Crisis Management? Don’t Come Running to Me
I suck at crisis management. I freeze. I become completely useless.
This morning as I was walking along Mass Ave in Cambridge, I saw a group of three people (a 20-something male, a 50-ish female, and a 70-ish gentleman). They were all standing in the middle of the sidewalk so I thought there were just having a pleasant conversataion.
Then the 70-ish gentleman suddenly toppled over sideways and fell off the sidewalk and into the street. The 20-something man rushed over to him and tried helping him up. At this point, I turned off my iPod and approached the scene (presumably to offer assistance). The younger man held up the older man up and started saying (to nobody in particular) “He hit his head pretty hard the first time around. He must have a concussion.”
Apparently, this older gentleman slipped on the ice before I got to the scene and landed straight on his head. As he stood up with the help of the younger man after his second fall (which was presumably caused by the dizziness associated with the first fall), his eyes looked completely dazed. He couldn’t/didn’t utter a syllable.
Soon, another 30-ish man showed up and asked if somebody had a cell phone so he could call 911. Then the lady said we should bring the man into a nearby hair salon to sit him down. The 20-ish and 30-ish men started carrying him away.
I turned my iPod back on and returned to my commute.
WTF? Granted, the whole scene probably lasted less than 2 minutes. But in that entire time, I didn’t utter a single syllable. Not a single offer of assistance. Hell, it never crossed my mine to use my cell phone to call for help. And when the 20-ish man was helping the older man up, I never thought to participate. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.
You always hear about people getting a burst of energy or adrenaline in situations like this. For me, I zoned out completely. I was basically as helpful as the ice. I was the antithesis of help…I was essentially an extra pair of eyes observing the situation. And I’m not proud of this.
To make me feel better about myself, I’m going to project anger elsewhere:
People at Harvard seem to love a local Chinese restaurant called Changsho. I never understood their fascination. The decor of the restaurant is agreeably nicer than most Chinese restaurants, but the food has always tasted of standard take-out Chinese fare. I must be wrong because people always want to go there.
Well, their parking lot is across the street from the restaurant for some reason. As I was walking home from work last night, I noticed that they’d thoroughly plowed their parking lot to the bare pavement, yet never touched the sidewalk in front (in this region the landlord is responsible for shoveling the sidewalks in front of their property). Then I recalled last winter’s big blizzard (and other now storms) and how it was always the same situation. And wtih last winters record snowfalls, this meant that the sidewalk was a slippery hazard for well over a month.
And that pisses me off. Granted today’s gentleman fell a block away from Changsho’s parking lot. But it’s only a matter of time before something similar happens in front of Changsho’s parking lot (if it hasn’t happened already). This restaurant does a killing with the Harvard crowd at lunch and with the normal dinner crowd. And I hear they do a successful dim sum on the weekends, too. It’s not like this place is lacking for money so why can’t they take care of their sidewalk? The rest of the walk from Porter Square to Harvard Square is almost always shoveled propertly until you get to this spot (and it’s a big spot).
I’m not going to eat there anymore. I don’t like the food anyway, so it’s no big deal for me. I wonder if I can get others to join my personal boycott?
There, I feel better now.
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Two of my pet peeves in one blog entry!
I don’t understand the fascination with Chang Sho. I would contest that it is not even on par with decent take-out. Plus, has anyone ever had the sushi or soups there? Yuck!
Last year Somerville began ticketing commercial landlords that didn’t take care of their sidewalks, (MarketBasket/Demoulas on Somerville Ave was the principal violator). I had to walk on two blocks of ice today as a landlord didn’t do their sidewalk, never mind that two huge derelict, private parking lots had been plowed and salted. If only people without cars were a significant enough lobby in Boston to get them to actually start enforcing the law. Or, better yet, deputize postman to allow them to write tickets for not shoveling sidewalks. ARGHH!
But you didn’t try to help the man….
YOU ARE GOING TO BURN IN HELL!
🙂
Just kidding..did you like my right wing religious zealot imitation?
There is a special circle in hell just for people like you. 🙂
When my cats have catastrophes (far too many)my usual panic is replaced by calm efficiency. (I save falling apart in a neurotic mess for later) So maybe if you had a little one you’d find you could do it.
I totally understand!! I am horrible in those types of situations..and I come from a long line of ER nurses, paramedics, firefighters and EMT’s..I guess I missed inheriting that gene, right along with the being able to cook gene!
Actually Snarl, the antithesis of helping would be doing harm; so since you didn’t actually PUSH the guy, you were not, in actual fact, the antithesis of help. Does that make you feel better? It is unfortunate, but my whole life’s training is for Crisis Mode; I am spectacular at those points, which eventually is going to make up for my otherwise lackluster existence.