I was getting ready for an evening of martinis and Mad Men and noticed there was a neighbor dog howling and whining for almost an hour. At first, I thought..."Meh, slightly loud and annoying, but man, I wish I had a dog." And then my Lassie radar turned on and I thought..."What if someone is hurt and the dog is crying for help?!"
Which was immediately followed by, "Nah, someone else will check."
(Which was followed by that thought for the next hour.)
I sort of hate that reasoning. People die, can't get up, get kidnapped, don't get help...primarily because people think: Someone else will help.
I made it all the way to my car and started the engine before I had to FORCE myself out of my car, walk to my neighbor's complex and pick a door to knock on.
They seemed surprised, defensive and almost annoyed that I had even bothered. "No, our dog is quiet, I promise." I tried to explain that I wasn't annoyed or upset -- just worried. They didn't seem to hear me.
This isn't a HEY, LOOK AT ME -- LOOK AT WHAT I DID post. This is a realization that LA has slowly and surely changed me. And I'm frustrated. It took a ton of convincing to get out of my car to "waste" 3 minutes of my time to check on a fellow human-being.
Buuuut....man did I feel relief afterward. Even if they couldn't quite understand my intentions.
No comments:
Post a Comment