Good Samaritans, Bad Apples

Today, my rusty first aid skills got a chance to be brushed off and put into action. And then I got to direct traffic in an attempt to prevent idiots who were driving too fast from running over a fellow member of mankind who was lying prone in the middle of the street.

All I can say is that there are some really good people out there.....and some serious shit heels.

When I was leaving school I had the misfortune of watching a bicyclist flip himself off his bike head first and into traffic. Two pedestrians reached him while I stopped and some guy driving a BMW and yapping on his phone barely missed running him over. A couple of quick inquires revealed that the biker (Lee) was alert and oriented, but was in serious pain and didn't feel like he could move. The pedestrians (Mike and Joe) asked the BMWer dude (DB) to call 911. DB hemmed and hawed, not wanting to get off his current phone call. Just when I was about to stop taking Lee's pulse and go fetch my phone out of the car, DB finally relented and called 911. Mike and Joe moved to direct traffic around me and Lee, while DB kept answering the dispatcher's questions poorly. When asked a question he didn't know the answer to he kept telling them he didn't know, despite being less than 10 feet away from 2 different people who could answer the question. He also kept telling the dispatcher that he was just calling it in as a "favor" but he really needed to leave already. And within a few moments, he did.

While Mike, Joe and I spent the time waiting for the police to arrive I was impressed by the number of people who stopped and asked if we needed any help, was surprised that one person went around the block again to come back and get another look, and was SHOCKED that more than one person (who didn't stop) rolled down their window to take a picture of Lee laying on the ground with their iPhone. But I guess that is the good, the bad and the ugly of humanity there.

I am happy to report that Lee seemed to be doing as well as can be expected as he was being loaded into the ambulance. He seemed to think that he broke his collar bone, but was able to focus on being concerned about whether or not they would bring his bike (they would) and if he could direct them to a specific hospital (he could).

So the moral of the story here is, wear your helmet for cripes sake. And watch it when you fly around a corner.

Following that excitement I headed off to the DMV, but that is another rant about the state of the world and the government that will have to wait for another day.