What would you do

[Neutraligon]

You are walking down a busy street when a well dressed middle aged man collapses in front of you. How do you respond?

Change that scenario, the person is now a homeless middle aged man. How do you respond?

This was an experiment done by the show 'what would you do" and now I am asking, how would you respond?

Strangely enough I have faced a few similar circumstance. The first is when a middle aged woman collapsed at a airport in front of me. I didn't know it until she regained consciousness since she was right in front of me I realized pretty quickly that she was drunk. The sad thing was it took a lot longer for security personal to respond, even though we were at a gate. It was only after I started asking for help that they approached. What is worse is that when she did come around, she was confused about the where she was, and the year, and the security personal started to scare her by telling her she would be brought in for questioning.

The other situation actually I have been in very closely matched the second, only it is even sadder. There was a homeless man collapsed on the side of the sidewalk (not the middle) and people where just walking by. He clearly was not asleep, was clearly in trouble, and yet...no one was doing a thing. I unfortunately didn't have my phone on me, and it took a second person to come up to me to get a call in since I didn't want to leave the guy.

So here is my question, what would affect whether you would help someone in that situation? When would you help, and when would you just walk on by?

[Ashmoria]

id call 911. I hate getting stuck with a person in need of more help than I can give them.

[Kingdomkungfu]

In my opinion no matter what the person is, I would help them. I wouldn't feel like a decent human being if I just ignored someone who was in need of help.

[Iidoomaan]

nothing. cause that never happens. the scenarios on that show arnt realistic

[Neutraligon]

id call 911. I hate getting stuck with a person in need of more help than I can give them.

It is really scary. When I was in middle school I was volunteering at the Jewish community event. I was working with an elderly woman who missed a step (the rug hid the step) and fell, hitting her head on a desk. Luckily there where others there since I had no idea what to do.

Would there be anything that would affect if you would call?

[Neutraligon]

nothing. the scenarios on that show arnt realistic

You have never had a person collapse in front of you; I must say I am jealous, it is rather scary.

[Romalae]

I'd like to think that I would come to the aid of the person in need. Maybe check the pulse, attempt CPR if necessary, and certainly call 911.

The only time anything like this has ever happened to me was around eight years back when I watching my brother at a tennis tournament, and one of the players collapsed in the heat a couple courts down. There was a doctor who happened to be there, and the fire department came quickly so I never had to do anything myself, fortunately. And I was only like 11 years old then anyway.

It's pretty scary.

[Prussia-Steinbach]

I'd probably ask if he was okay, check his pulse, call an ambulance, in that order. The same no matter his financial status.

I've borderline engendered a prejudice against the wealthy at this point anyway.

[The Xenian]

If it looked real...and not like a scam, I would probably call 911 and report the location.

[Ifreann]

...if your son was at home, cryin' all alone on the bedroom floor...oh, right, the OP. Well, I'd like to think I'd help them up, see if they're okay and so on regardless of how well dressed or homeless they looked, but I can't say that's based on past experience. I have helped a few people to their feet a few times, but nothing terribly serious. Drunks and mosh pits.

[Cannot think of a name]

The whole point of that show (one can argue whether or not it is achieved) is to actually confront people with the scenario and catch 'what they would do' in contrast to what we'd like to think our best selves would be. The idea being that very few people would say, "I'd be a jerkass!" but when presented with the scenarios perhaps a statistically larger number (not that it ever really gives a good sample) might actually be a jerkass when they don't know they're being given a morality test.

So asking, "Would you be more likely to help a wealthy person than a poor person? Eh? EH? Well? Do you hate poor people...DO YOU!?" misses the point. All you're sniffing out with that is edgy teens and people insecure in their predictions of how they handle stressful situations.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Id help both of them, i would go over to them, do my best to help, as well as phone emergency services if its needed or try and get nearby help depending on where it happened. Just because someone is wearing rags instead of riches does not mean i wont help them. I try to do my best to help everyone who deserves it.

Oh and i saw this on Youtube as well, and it really pissed me off how everyone just walked on past.

[Sebastianbourg]

Call the authorities, wait until they arrived, and then leave.

[Rednekylvania]

I would think I'd never just pass on by someone in distress. I've never had anyone just drop in front of me, but I have had the unpleasant duty to call in authorities to the site of an accidental death. Additionally, I've had to put myself between my father and younger brother, and between a drunk roommate and his girlfriend, to prevent undeserved beatings.

[Eastern Equestria]

I'd buy a Klondike bar.

Oh yeah, and call an ambulance.

[Zottistan]

Call an ambulance and do standard first aid stuff. Wouldn't be much of a lifeguard if I couldn't handle that.

[Borgovia]

People tend to say noble things in these regards, but, when reality kicks in, I doubt they'll act on their words. Since I do not know what I'll do exactly should I be in this situation, I'll only say what I want to believe I'll be doing: Help the person. Unless the said well dressed man is a social parasite, I will leave him.

[Friedensreich]

I think I'd call 911 for the well dressed man, and walk around the homeless one. Although, since it is only a hypothetical, I don't know what I'd actually do...

[Nazi Flower Power]

Really depends on what you mean by collapse.

If a homeless guy is stumbling around drunk and trips over his own feet, yes, I am going to keep walking. If I realize that it is something more serious, I'd try to help or call 911. The thing about a homeless guy collapsing is it's often harder to tell whether it's a real emergency because they are more likely to be stumbling around drunk or just randomly lying on the sidewalk even when there is not an emergency. Getting picked up by the authorities may or may not be helpful, and may or may not be welcome. If there's a homeless guy lying on the ground, it's entirely possible that he's just sleeping and would rather not be disturbed from his sleep. I don't think homeless people deserve to be left to die if they're having a stroke or something, but there is a higher probability that I would simply not realize they needed help. A guy passed out on the sidewalk in a nice suit is just going to stand out more than the homeless guy who always camps out there, but today something is wrong with him.

[Torisakia]

Probably call emergency services, regardless of who they are.

[Genivaria]

nothing. the scenarios on that show arnt realistic

You have never had a person collapse in front of you; I must say I am jealous, it is rather scary.

My step mother had an asthma attack in front of me when I was 13, it was scary.

[Washington Resistance Army]

I think I'd call 911 for the well dressed man, and walk around the homeless one. Although, since it is only a hypothetical, I don't know what I'd actually do...

Hypothetically you're a shitty person.

In all seriousness as to what I do? I'd help both of them, but I'd probably be more concerned in trying to help the homeless man.

[Nazi Flower Power]

nothing. the scenarios on that show arnt realistic

You have never had a person collapse in front of you; I must say I am jealous, it is rather scary.

Yeah, it's pretty startling. A girl collapsed in the middle of one of my classes when I was in college. Luckily the professor caught her before she fell and hit her head on anything.

[Kilobugya]

Remind myself about the bystander apathy, that I can't just "look at what other people around do" or "tell myself someone else will handle it", because if we all do that no one will help. So call the firefighters (which are, here in France, the fastest ones when you've a real emergency) and wait until they arrive.

I actually did it twice already (calling the firefighters after someone collpased nearby).

[Imperium Sidhicum]

Depends largely on what I was wearing at the time. If I encountered such a situation while in uniform, it would be my duty to help within my ability, because that is what law and society would expect me to do, and as far as the prestige and dignity of my profession is concerned, I take it very seriously.

If I was wearing plain clothes, however, it would depend solely on my mood. I might help the guy if I was feeling generous at the moment, or ignore him if I wasn't.

I'd be more likely to help the well-dressed man in such a case, my help to the homeless man depending strictly on his state of hygene. There are bums that nobody would want to touch with a 10-foot stick, you know.