Help an old lady across the street?
Not in this day and age. It is just that plain and simple. The classic image of the hospitable young man helping a frail old lady to cross a busy intersection simply cannot occur, especially at SMU. Allow me to explain.
As a member of Student Foundation (SF), I have the privilege of serving the wonderful patrons who venture far from the safety of their homes to attend one of the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series’ many programs. This past Tuesday night, our university was blessed to have Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward and Hugh Sidey as lecturers. Many SF members were on hand, as always, to tear tickets and seat anxious patrons.
As the crowd hurried to fill in the remaining seats just before the start of the lecture, something terrible happened. A busy Tate official accidentally bumped into a little elderly woman, who, as one would expect, stutter-stepped, lost her footing and fell on the ground.
Unfortunately, I was manning the door right next to the mishap. I say unfortunately because as ushers, we are not allowed to assist, nor even to touch, patrons who have fallen. I watched in horror as the lady slowly lost her balance, and I even took an instinctual step towards her. Could I have stopped her slow-motion crash to the floor? Sadly, yes. But did I? Regrettably, the answer is no. It is a close call, but I possibly could have prevented her from teetering backwards and the bumped head that ended the descent. But, before you brand me a monster, understand why I did not help her.
As I stepped forward, I suddenly remembered my training – “Never touch anyone unless they are on fire.” These very words instill fear into the SF ushers. Here I was, an able-bodied student, and there was this feeble grandma whom I could not touch. Why such a policy? It’s quite simple really: if I touched her, it is possible that I could be sued. Even if I were trying to help, which I was, I could still find myself in court. The same goes for the rest of the ushers. Regulations stipulate that only the Tate staff members can aid the patrons in such catastrophes. Should I have helped? In retrospect, yes I should have. The elderly lady soon got to her feet and shook it all off. She was just a little stunned. She seemed nice enough – that is, nice enough not to sue me or the staff member who inadvertently caused the calamity.
And yet, it troubles me greatly that even if I could help someone, I simply cannot. Sure, I could have taken the risk, lunged forward, stopped her fall and been the hero of the evening. But when one has been told repeatedly not to touch anyone and when that moment of truth arises, one finds himself in a bind – and I sadly felt forced to do the less noble thing and let the lady crumble to the ground.
A natural conflict arises in such cases: does one abide by the law of the land, or does one obey the moral obligation to help a fellow person? Instinct immediately told me to help – to rush to the aid of my elder – but just as I stepped forward I found myself frozen in place, and in time for that matter. It was not a fear of being sued that initially halted me. Rather, it was an apprehension of disobeying the laws of the land; on that night, McFarlin Auditorium was the land.
Should not the laws of the land and moral laws coincide? Should not the policy of McFarlin Auditorium be to aid those in danger, for certainly it is a good thing to do? In an ideal world such would be the case. Yet, very sadly, such an agreement between the laws cannot exist.
Our culture is one of lawsuits. If you spill hot coffee on your lap, you can expect the local fast food chain to dole out the dollars. If a robber crashes down into your kitchen while trying to find a way into your house and just happens to cut himself on some cutlery, you can expect to get sued for not storing your dangerous weapons properly. And if you try to stop a little old lady from potentially breaking a hip, you can expect to get sued for being negligent about the proper manner of helping. It is utter insanity.
It just goes to show that in today’s world one has to be incredibly careful what one does. Plenty of gentlemen are out there in the world, and even here at SMU, who would rush to the aid of anyone in need. Many ladies would do the same. But before you run off and try to save the world, beware! Who knows, you might get sued for trying to do something as bad as helping!
