The Invisible Man

[jminn1]

The wife and I went to wally-world in North-West Dallas on Saturday afternoon, about 2 pm.

A bright beautiful sunny day in North Texas. As luck would have it, we entered the parking lot on the grocery end of the store, and we wanted to enter the store on the garden center end so we had to drive the entire length of the store to get there. Given the nice day, there were a lot of folks out, crossing in front of my car and slowing us down. As we got past the main entrance, we noticed a man walking with obvious difficulty in the same direction we were going through all of the people. Given the heavy foot traffic, I had to stop and wait for pedestrians many times, so our progress wasn't any faster than the man. He would take three or four steps, then lean on the building for support with his head down. I noticed, and called it out to my wife, and she observed him while I drove. As we neared the far end of the building where the garden center is located, he seemed to have more and more difficulty walking and staying upright. He passed the garden center entrance, and then collapsed against the building and almost when down.

I quickly parked the car and approached him. I called out to him as I approached from his left, and he didnt' respond. As I got closer to him, I noticed spots of blood in a trail to where he was kneeling, kind of bent over with his head down and not moving. Drip. Drip. Drip. Blood spatters on the concrete. I gently helped him straighten a bit while asking his name and what was wrong. His body was tight and resisted my effort but he finally turned a little bit and looked up at me.

His entire right side of his face looked like he had been punched or something and he had a goose-egg about the size of a half of a real egg under his eye. He was bleeding from one nostril, from the mouth, and from a deep abrasion just behind his eye towards his ear. Not much, but bright red blood. His pupils were very very tiny. He couldn't answer any questions except he knew his first name. And he was having serious difficulty remaining upright. His right hand was torn up and bleeding as well. I suspected either a vicious assault or a stroke.

I called out to an employee to call an ambulance and they ran to get a manager, and a chair. We got the man seated and I knelt down and just talked to him to try to keep him with us and to find out more information for the EMTs. He finally shook his head yes to a fall, but was starting to become less responsive as more time passed. He finally did tell me his name was Mike, but that's all I could get.

The EMTs got there and took over, and I conveyed my observations to them and got out of the road.

I'm not writing this for glory or praise for being a good Samaritan.

I writing this because I'm angry.

I'm angry that a fellow human being, obviously hurt, in pain, and having great difficulty, could walk through a crowd of his fellow human beings and yet remain completely invisible to them.

I have no way to find out what happened after the ambulance left. I hope he lived, got the care he needed, and is doing better today.

This isn't a movie, it's real, and he was truly The Invisible Man.

If someone on the forum happens to be in a position to know how this turned out, please PM me with a status. I don't need info, I just want to know if he's all right.

[Dan20703]

You were his angel.

You have my deep respect for helping him.

[joe817]

You were his angel.

You have my deep respect for helping him.

totally. My hat's off to you.

[puma guy]

As I read your story the meaning of your post title became quite evident, as it did I'm sure to most. It's hard to believe how people can ignore a fellow human being in need until I look around and see how self absorbed most people have become. Thank goodness for your compassion. The Good Lord is smiling and has no doubt put a gold star on your chart!

[mcscanner]

jminn1,

Thank-you for your 'visibility'!

Mike

[Lumberjack98]

Great post and thanks for sharing.

[Steamboat]

Unfortunately, a lot of folks are oblivious to anyone around them.
Great job on stepping in and thanks for sharing with everyone!

[MechAg94]

I would say most people really pay attention to only a small percentage of people around them. I would bet that very few of those people actually recognized he was hurt.

[jimlongley]

You were his angel.

You have my deep respect for helping him.

In 1959 my grandfather, Colonel Longley, USA; First Captain of the Corps 1902; Executive Vice President of International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation, was on his way to visit my grandmother, who was a terminal cancer patient. He stumbled on a curb in front of the hospital and broke his ankle and fell. He lay, partly on the curb, partly in the gutter, for close to a half hour while people stepped over and around him, assuming he was just some bum, this elegant man who even dressed in a tie for breakfast.

As a young teen I began to find a newfound disrespect for humanity in general.

[puma guy]

You were his angel.

You have my deep respect for helping him.

In 1959 my grandfather, Colonel Longley, USA; First Captain of the Corps 1902; Executive Vice President of International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation, was on his way to visit my grandmother, who was a terminal cancer patient. He stumbled on a curb in front of the hospital and broke his ankle and fell. He lay, partly on the curb, partly in the gutter, for close to a half hour while people stepped over and around him, assuming he was just some bum, this elegant man who even dressed in a tie for breakfast.

As a young teen I began to find a newfound disrespect for humanity in general.

I too sometimes wonder what is wrong with people. My mother tripped over a berm in the handicapped parking walkway in an HEB parking lot and was unable to get up or move. . She lay there 45 minutes all the while yelling for help before someone finally called a store manager out to investigate. This was 40 feet from the entrance. She was able to get someone to call me on my cell phone and I had to call the ambulance after I arrived. As she lay on the gurney at the ER (after a preliminary assessment by the attending physician who determined she probably had a fractured pelvis) a nurse handed her a specimen jar and insisted she walk to the bathroom to give a urine sample. I hate to admit it but was not nice when I described to that nurse the level of her stupidity.

[VMI77]

Northwest Dallas.....that's our urban society. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have played out that way in any small Texas town. I've had numerous flats out here in rural Texas on country roads and every time not a single vehicle passed without checking on me and offering to help. Of course, there wasn't a lot of traffic so we're talking about 4-5 cars each time.

The callousness is largely a product of urbanization and the fear and distrust it breeds in a country where the ruling class and the media does all they can to divide people along every conceivable line, and especially by race and culture. People are rightly in some cases, or wrongly, afraid to get involved. This is part and parcel of a culture that celebrates victim-hood and punishes success. Throw in a large population where everyone is a stranger, add some racial and cultural division and a media inflated perception of danger, and many people are going to try and play it safe by ignoring what's going on around them, because often, that's the easiest way to stay out of trouble.

[2farnorth]

You were his angel.

You have my deep respect for helping him.

Thank you Jminn1.
I had an experience where a pair of "angels" helped me out back in 2012. Rural road near here at 2:30 am on my way to work. Hit a cow with my small car. Cow had landed on my windshield and roof crushing everything down on my head. My car went about 10 feet off the wrong side of the road with the engine still running and remaining lights on. When I regained consciousness a rare passing car hit the brakes and came back to me. Those two young girls used my phone to call emergency services, my wife, my work, and stayed with me til em services arrived. Then they quietly left. Sheriff's deputy said he never got a chance to get their names or statements. I've tried since to find and thank them, but no response to my ads or queries.

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[SRH78]

Sadly, this doesn't surprise me at all. A few years ago, I felt the onset of a kidney stone attack and stopped at one of the rest areas on I 35 south of Ft Worth as I knew that very soon I would be unable to drive. I was on the ground vomiting repeatedly from the pain. Lots of people walked right past me without saying a word. This went on for over 2 hours before a nice older couple stopped to check on me. I lost a lot of faith in humanity that day. There is no way I could walk past someone in that condition without checking on them.

[bigity]

I don't have a story as good as these but I do know I constantly get weird looks from people (especially younger females) when I do things like hold open the door and let them go first, offer to take the grocery basket back when a mother has unloaded the cart and has kids in the car, etc.

The other day I helped some old lady down into her car in front of the Walmart entrance and closed the door for her (her husband was driving and didn't look like he would have been able to help anyway). I think she almost cried.

I make it a point to tell my son to get the door and such for his mother, sister, strangers, etc. Such small things but I think it helps get you into the right mindset. I have a feeling 99 percent of his peers will be oblivious to that kind of thing. :(