PZ547
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The detachment isn't new. Don't worry Grappler, you doubtless did the best by and for your kids. And some of the best parents are those who had a rough passage themselves because at least they know what not to do, how not to hurt, etc.
When I was about 20 or so, standing in the seat-free section of the carriages they used to have, a girl in the same section caught my eye. Which was lucky, because I used to stand with the doors open, facing the outside
I turned to look and she was writhing. No noise. She dropped her bag. Made no attempt to pick it up. So I looked more closely. Didn't know what was wrong with her, because she had a vacant expression. Then she began to fold, still jigging around. The doors on the other side were open too. And she hit the floor, still writhing
I still didn't know if she was conscious or what. Didn't want to touch her in case she screamed. But when she began wriggling across the floor toward the open doors, I grabbed her by her shirt front. After a moment, she tried to get up but her legs weren't holding her. I ended up holding her up by her shirt for who knows how many minutes
People were just feet away, through the half-glass doors. Some looked. Seemed impossible they didn't see what was happening. Others looked and then put their eyes down to their newspaper
I was desperately trying to hold her up and steady the pair of us. The train was flying
then we began to slow down and by the time we'd stopped at the station, she simply grabbed her bag and left the train. Still hadn't said anything. People at work said it sounded as if she'd had an epileptic seizure
People got up, left the train, no one said anything to me
Some people just don't want to get involved. Some of them just do not care, although they don't mind observing someone being hurt or humiliated, whatever. I suspect there have always been people like that. And they find people who do get involved to be strange peculiar
Back when we had the drought a few years in a row, the communal gardens were left their own devices -- strata management had the auto sprinklers switched off and the hose was removed. A couple of times a week I'd take our hose out there and spend an hour or two watering to keep things alive
Neighbours of the asian kind walked past, looked at me, then one of them shouted, ' You get paid? Money? '. I shook my head and the one who'd yelled out made a disgusted sound in my direction accompanied by a dismissive flip of the hand. Others walked past with an air of superiority towards the garden waterer, something akin to how Prince Charles might behave toward the common herd. Yet those with the most haughty attitude were renters and we'd bought our place years before they'd turned up
It's the same attitude towards the elderly, the poor, the maimed, etc. in our society. An attitude of contempt combined with self satisfaction. Some people can't help being that way, in their genes maybe, or the way they were raised
Our asian neighbours were contemptuous of me for doing something for nothing, for no personal gain. Their children, when they have them, might be an improvement, or maybe their grandchildren. Not suggesting they're all like that, just as not all care-home workers are sadists and not everyone will sit and ignore an elderly person clutching at a pole for balance. We wouldn't. So -- it balances out. It just wasn't the old lady's day. Maybe tomorrow someone will do her a good turn
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