What Would You Do?

The past few days, while the kidlets were at school and I was doing my usual homemaking chores, I have had my laptop running a television show I had long since forgotten. It is called What Would You Do? and I had located it on ABC's website (www.abc.com). Ages ago, Pig and I had watched a few of those shows when we felt like wrestling with the digital rabbit ears for our television set. On a whim, I decided to run through a bunch of them while doing other tasks. Please note that I have no affiliation with the site or station, nor are they compensating me in any way, shape, or form for discussing this show. I blather about this simply because it is on my mind today.

The general idea behind the show is to hire actors to set up scenarios deliberately staged to see if people will speak up or stay silent while hidden cameras roll. The situations presented might be of an ambiguous nature, highlighting cultural issues, or even demonstrating things that are against the law. They appear to come up with at least some of their ideas from the news headlines. Personally, I wonder if anyone has sued them for raising their blood pressure, as a number of those scenarios seem designed to do just that.

After watching several episodes, I have come to the conclusion that most people won't say or do anything under many of the scenarios presented. The actors were sometimes instructed to directly involve other people, and those people did often say something when confronted directly, but a lot of people chose to just keep their mouths shut when it came to confronting others about something that just did not seem right.

Quite frankly, this baffles me. I can't keep my mouth shut. I am the annoying person in the store who will get after your kidlet for trying to climb up the shelves while you look the other way. I scold people I don't know if I see them taking something that does not belong to them. I embarrass my own kidlets when I yell at other students walking home from school when they try to beat one another with sticks pulled from a pile of brush. I find it impossible to not say something. How could I live with my own conscience if I did not speak up? What if I could prevent someone from getting injured, bullied, or even arrested simply by getting involved? What kind of example would I be giving my children if I did not step up to the plate and say something? I know from personal experience what it is like to not speak up when necessary.

By keeping our collective mouths shut, we are condoning behaviors that should not be allowed to continue. As a teenager, I had a number of individuals who picked on me for various reasons. One of them in particular could have been arrested for his actions. Many people witnessed him in action, and not one single, solitary person stood up for me, save one girl. I still remember how relieved I felt when she told him to knock it off, then turned to me and told me I should elbow the jerk in a particularly sensitive region on his anatomy. He walked away. For one morning out of many where that boy crossed the line, I felt safer because someone stood up for me. Every other person who had witnessed his actions had silently condoned his behavior. That one girl did not, and I still feel grateful for her intervention.

Another event I remember quite vividly from those years was when one friend of mine hauled off and kicked his girlfriend, who was also a friend of mine, in front of a group of us. I was livid. I started to go after him to tell him off, but a few of my friends physically held me back and told me if I said anything, I would just make it worse for her. I had no idea what to do, but the last thing I wanted to do was give him any excuse to physically assault her again. I wound up trying to give her hints to stop dating the guy, but either I was too subtle or she thought I wanted him for myself. Thankfully, they are no longer together, but that does little to soothe my conscience about not being able to help her at the time. I truly feel as if I failed my friend when she needed me there the most.

I will not be that silent bystander again. I will not stand by and silently condone illegal and/or immoral actions. I am no longer the timid high school student who was petrified to even elbow a kid who was trying to mockingly force himself on me. I will find a way to do more if I witness someone being abused. I will do my best to raise my children to speak up against injustices they witness, and I will lead by example. What will you do?