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My day off is always uneventful.

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  • My day off is always uneventful.

    Until this past day off (night before last).

    I got off work at 11PM and met BF at home. Since I hadn't eaten all day, I decided I wanted to go out. We both went out to Denny's, where we got a new waiter who did a very good job and tried his best (For a newbie, he was great!) but the fun didn't really begin until we were less then a block from our townhouse.

    I was driving while BF was in the passenger seat watching the city go by when something bright and shiny caught my eye. Not the "Ooo, pretty!" kinda shiny but the "Something's not right" kinda shiny. When we got closer we quickly learned what it was; a bottle set aflame on the hood of someone's car. We pulled off at the drive next to it (I had slowed to nearly a stop since it was only 2am, no one was around) and called Emergency. Who knew Houston used a switchboard? So both BF and I are on the line with Emergency; he's talking to the police and I'm talking to the Fire Department. When we got off the phones (Thank Heaven and Hell for cell phones) he went in search of the owner of the vehicle; banging on doors and trying to talk to the locals in the apartment buildings. I waved down a cop, who blocked off the road and just stood there to watch. Now the flames have engulfed the entire hood.

    It had maybe been 10 minutes at this point, but it felt like an eternity. Someone with Volunteer Fire stopped by and kept us company and helped BF search for fire extinguishers. I didn't find any, but the two of them found three, which helped control the fire a bit until the Fire Department showed up. They did their thing and the cop left. No questions or anything. Odd, I thought, but who cares right now?

    BF and I hung around to see if the Chief (whom BF called Poindexter because he carried a clipboard and inspected the damage) wanted to take statements since the cop didn't. I told Poindexter that it had looked like there was a bottle when we first came onto the scene, but BF was unsure since he didn't see it himself. Sure enough, there was a bottle of somesort melted to the vehicle. Poindexter asked if we would hang around until the Arson Guy showed up. Since yesterday was my day off, we said sure. Arson Guy shows up, and talks to a bunch of people. By this time, we've found the owner of the vehicle and he's talking to her and her family. Too bad, too, since it was a nice looking little car. (Manderine Orange coloured Neon, maybe a year or two old) Arson Guy asks what we'd seen, if we had seen anyone walking around in the area (he assumed we had been walking too; BF quickly corrected him) and said after pointing out where I had seen the bottle, we were told we could go home.
    BF and I gave our info (both cells and address, including work info) to Poindexter and I told him that since he and his guys where on the scene a lot faster then I had expected, I would bring them cookies. He told me the addy for their station and said to make sure Shift A got the cookies and we went home.

    It wasn't too late; nearly 4am when BF and I finally got home, showered and crawled into bed. The worst thing was... there was a pile of people there, we helped them move their vehicles and it turns out BF and I were the only people to call Emergency. What's up with that?!




    *Mods, if this is the wrong place for this, feel free to move it!
    Ridiculous 2009 Predictions: Evil Queen will beat Martha Stewart to death with a muffin pan. All hail Evil Queen! (Some things don't need elaboration.....) -- Jester

    Ridiculous 2010 Predictions: Evil Queen, after escaping prison for last years prediction, goes out and waffle irons Rachel Ray to death. -- SG15Z

    Ridiculous 2011 Prediction: Evil Queen will beat Gordon Ramsay over the head with a cast-iron skillet. -- FireHeart

  • #2
    Psychologically this is called the bystander effect. Someone else will call, so i don't have to. The more people around in the area who don't call the more likely it will be the next person along will not either. Yay for pack/crowd mentality.

    In laymen terms we call this being lazy

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    • #3
      They can't be that lazy, can they? I mean, the fire was less then 10 feet from the apartment building!

      Ridiculous 2009 Predictions: Evil Queen will beat Martha Stewart to death with a muffin pan. All hail Evil Queen! (Some things don't need elaboration.....) -- Jester

      Ridiculous 2010 Predictions: Evil Queen, after escaping prison for last years prediction, goes out and waffle irons Rachel Ray to death. -- SG15Z

      Ridiculous 2011 Prediction: Evil Queen will beat Gordon Ramsay over the head with a cast-iron skillet. -- FireHeart

      Comment


      • #4
        Yeah well, the average person also suffers from "someone else" syndrome. They all figure there are FAR less lazy people than them out there...

        Comment


        • #5
          Wow, EQ. I'm.....uh.....slightly horrified. Glad I don't live where you do.
          Now a member of that alien race called Management.

          Yeah, you see that right. Pink. Harness.

          Comment


          • #6
            Setting a car on fire by setting a bottle of something on the hood and lighting it? That seems a bit odd way to set something on fire.

            But then again, my former next-door neighbors had their boat torched by some punks who tossed a bunch of paper inside (don't ask me where they got it from) and lit it ablaze.

            I tell you, I hardly slept for about a week after that. And the neighbors left the burnt-out hulk in front of their house for a few days to stink up the neighborhood.
            Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

            "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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            • #7
              A Molotov cocktail they decided not to throw at the house after all and set down nicely on the hood?

              We set fire to a BBQ once. The wooden part of it. We had two people at this party call emergency, plus the fireguys told us the neighbours had called too. Obviously we don't suffer from the same inflictions in that neighbourhood.

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              • #8
                Quoth Chanlin View Post
                Psychologically this is called the bystander effect. Someone else will call, so i don't have to. The more people around in the area who don't call the more likely it will be the next person along will not either. Yay for pack/crowd mentality.

                In laymen terms we call this being lazy
                yeah, didn't a study several years back say that they could actually graph the probability of what percentage of people would call emergency services?

                I think the most famous example is the apartment complex in new york where there was over 100 witnesses to a murder and not a single person called the police because they all assumed someone else was calling and didn't want to overwhelm the dispatchers...
                remind me not to get killed in new york.
                If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song

                Comment


                • #9
                  This story is worse: video clip from fox news.

                  Someone even takes a cellphone picture, but doesn't use said cell to call 911.
                  "If you find yourself fantasizing about throwing actual users into a blender, please get help... they're heavy." - Tom Dickson

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                  • #10
                    I posted a similar story about a week back, it doesn't suprise me in the slightest to be honest.
                    A PSA, if I may, as well as another.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth froglet View Post
                      This story is worse: video clip from fox news.

                      Someone even takes a cellphone picture, but doesn't use said cell to call 911.
                      Oh. My. God.

                      My faith in humanity is at an all time low right about now. Hit and run? Yeah, sucks but happens. I can see that. But those bystanders? HOLY FREAKING COW!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth smileyeagle1021 View Post
                        yeah, didn't a study several years back say that they could actually graph the probability of what percentage of people would call emergency services?

                        I think the most famous example is the apartment complex in new york where there was over 100 witnesses to a murder and not a single person called the police because they all assumed someone else was calling and didn't want to overwhelm the dispatchers...
                        remind me not to get killed in new york.
                        Yeppers. Kitty Genovese, which is why the phenomenon called Dilution of Responsibility is known as Genovese Syndrome as well as Bystander Effect.
                        ...WHY DO YOU TEMPT WHAT LITTLE FAITH IN HUMANITY I HAVE!?! -- Kalga
                        And I want a pony for Christmas but neither of us is getting what we want OK! What you are asking is impossible. -- Wicked Lexi

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                        • #13
                          Quoth froglet View Post
                          This story is worse: video clip from fox news.

                          Someone even takes a cellphone picture, but doesn't use said cell to call 911.
                          holy crap. So much for my friend's theory on people being naturally good. Mine is they are natually dumb lol or at least, like the movie Idiocracy, only the dumb ones are breeding too much.

                          All of those people...just staring at him... What kinda sick @#@!&%$$%$ takes a pic of a hurt person but doesn't try to help by calling 911???

                          I worry for this world...
                          When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers. ---Colleen C. Barrett---

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post
                            Setting a car on fire by setting a bottle of something on the hood and lighting it? That seems a bit odd way to set something on fire.
                            Not really. A glass or plastic bottle would make a nice, if inexact, timer. The firey mixture would take a bit of time to melt or burst the bottle, giving the arsonist time to get away from the area.

                            Good for you, Evil Queen, for stopping and doing something. More kudos for aiding the investigation.
                            The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
                            "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
                            Hoc spatio locantur.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth smileyeagle1021 View Post
                              yeah, didn't a study several years back say that they could actually graph the probability of what percentage of people would call emergency services?

                              I think the most famous example is the apartment complex in new york where there was over 100 witnesses to a murder and not a single person called the police because they all assumed someone else was calling and didn't want to overwhelm the dispatchers...
                              remind me not to get killed in new york.
                              We studied that case in my high school sociology class.
                              What was interesting was everyone in the class was horrified, but quite a few admitted they would have reacted the same way as the people who did nothing.

                              Fuckin' hell I called the cops when I heard a firework go off on a day that was nowhere near a firework related holiday just in case.
                              I know in retrospect I wasted the police's time, but I don't know the difference between a loud firework bang (it had to have been one hell of a cherry bomb - not your average OOH, AHH sparkly firework) and a gun shot.

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