When would you stop watching, and shout?

[Blarg]

Once in a rare while I remember something that decades later still makes me feel out of my depth when it comes to understanding people. It brings to mind a lot of questions.

I'll explain. A long time ago, when I was a teenager, a friend and I were bodysurfing down at the beach. It was a local beach a few blocks from my house, and it was neither jammed like a tourist beach nor empty; people were regularly coming and going. Plenty of people were splayed out on the sand, some swimming here and there, most just caching the sun.

My friend and I eventually felt like taking a break and resting. When we came out of the water, a bunch of people came up to us and told us, "Wow, there was a shark that was swimming right up next to you. We saw it get within a couple of feet of you a whole bunch of times. It was looking like it was circling you. We saw its fin sticking up out of the water."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, it was always popping up when you guys were looking the other way."

"What the hell! Why didn't you shout or something?"

Silence. We had been regularly facing the shore, to catch waves. We had seen people walking about, milling here and there as people do. We hadn't noticed anything, but we weren't looking for anything either. Still, we saw the shore constantly and were not too far from it.

"Was it big?"

"Yeah, it looked pretty big."

"How long was it swimming around us?"

"We saw it off and on from about 20 minutes ago, but for 10 minutes it was like it was right on you guys and kept popping up. We were really scared something was gonna happen."

My friend and I got the shivers. But at the same time we got the shivers from the people themselves, not just the idea, and reality, of the shark hanging around us. Later that day, two more groups of people told us they saw the shark swimming around us at that time. Nobody had tried to wave to us, shout to us, give us any notice of the danger we were in. We were not that far off shore at all. You could have heard a good shout from where we were, where they were. Someone could be seen flapping their arms. You could wander out a good ways of the fairly short distance and be in no more than a foot or so of water.

They could have alerted us. But instead, they decided to watch. For 20 minutes! And not one soul said a word, waved an arm. Nothing.

I'm still uneasy thinking about that to this day. Not that much about the shark. About the people. And not just a small clutch of them. This not only wasn't just one person, it wasn't even just one group. It was multiple groups of people who had decided not to say a thing or make themselves noticed, but just to watch and see what happened. To let the spectacle of possible death unfold about them as if it were a normal afternoon's entertainment, or a movie on a screen instead of a reality they were as much a part of as anyone else.

I wonder -- would I be able to distance myself like that, and just watch to see if someone, some kid, was torn to pieces in front of my eyes? Have 20 minutes to decide and never come to a decision to so much as flap my arms and shout? Would I let the feeling of my friends being around me rob me of the moral courage to show initiative and do the right thing, make me afraid of standing out and being noisy or daring to not be blase about what happened to somebody else, no matter how terrible? Could I care how I looked that much? And could I really watch something like that, or even the possibility of it, whether it happened or not? Were those people disappointed that nothing happened after all? Were they on pins and needles hoping something would?

When would you stop watching, and shout? Are you sure?

[diebitter]

I'd give it about 5-10 seconds for shock, try and assess the options to figure out how best to get you safe (another 10-15 seconds maybe), and then I'd shout, trying to let you know to come out slow and calm. I'd shout as loud as possible to dominate the situation, so there's no hubbub to panic you, I'd hope.

This shows starkly how people can be dumb or wicked, and makes me sick to think no one said anything. Someone there could have done something, and chose not to. That's just evil

[pryor15]

that's really [censored] up.

but you have to wonder, if someone had yelled to you, what are the chances that you panic and become shark food? probably slim, but those ignorant fools may have saved your life.

still, though, what the hell is wrong w/ people?

[Blarg]

I dunno that being panicked would make me any less safe. And after you're out there splashing around with a shark for 20 minutes, how safe is that anyway? Surely the safest thing is to get the heck out of the water instead of staying there indefinitely.

[pryor15]

obviously, yeah, you need to get to shore.

but life's funny sometimes, maybe the panicking would have aroused the shark's attention. probably not, but you never know. regardless, you're damn fortunate.

[gamblore99]

Blarg, this kind of thing is well documented. People look at other people, and when they see others doing nothing (usually looking right back trying to figure out if they should do something) they get the idea that since no one else is doing anything, no action should be taken. Its not that they don't care. Situations like these are uncommon for people, so they rely on other peoples reactions to judge the situation.

[Vavavoom]

Blarg,

I think thats disgraceful that people would not warn others of the danger around them. However, I used to be fascinated about sharks as a youngster. Sharks sense fear, although its possible that these people were not aware of that fact - I think in the most discreet way possible I would have signalled for you to try to get back to shore...Otherwise, I can't see how you would not have ended up with one of you being "shark-lunch"...

The only reason I say discreetly, is not because I want to be the hero...But because that I think I would hope that someone would do the same in turn for me..

Vava

[Blarg]

I automatically think I would have been less voyeuristic than those people. But I bet all those people thought exactly the same thing about themselves. They were wrong. Would I be?

How much do we have the ability to indulge in the suffering of others? Even for mere entertainment?

I'm sure these weren't bad people. And maybe that's the scary part. But something went wrong here.

[shant]

I'm hoping it was just a rarity and you happened to be in a twilight zone of retards who handled the situation this way. I think >90% of the time someone warns you.

[gamblore99]

This link goes into some detail about this type of stuff.

Bystander intervention and social responsibility