If you saw an elderly lady being mugged...

[Kerry]

... what would you do? In theory obviously as situations would vary

Discuss

[Kazanne]

... what would you do? In theory obviously as situations would vary

Discuss

Probably hit them with my handbag if I could or just ring the police

[Callum]

Call the police

[Miss Ivy Balls]

I would like to think I would try and save her, but without causing harm to myself.

There's no point in me getting hurt too.

I think it would be an at the moment reaction. Flight or fight, but I'd definitely ring the police as soon as I could.

[Kerry]

Ahhh it's been cleaned up. Thankyou

[MTVN]

Stick a leg out and try and trip him up. If I couldnt do that then probably nothing, maybe just shout a bit

[Novo]

I would like to think I would try and save her, but without causing harm to myself.

There's no point in me getting hurt too.

I think it would be an at the moment reaction. Flight or fight, but I'd definitely ring the police as soon as I could.

I can just imagine you trying to save the woman wearing some Pink cape and a pair of boxing gloves shouting down the road " Don't worry betty darling i am coming " and going up to the man and trying to fend him off by waving your hands everywhere before tripping over the road curb and knocking yourself out

[Stacey.]

I can just imagine you trying to save the woman wearing some Pink cape and a pair of boxing gloves shouting down the road " Don't worry betty darling i am coming " and going up to the man and trying to fend him off by waving your hands everywhere before tripping over the road curb and knocking yourself out

:laugh2:

[joeysteele]

Thankfully with mobile phones I would be able to ring the police and also help her too, even capture it on phone camera or video too.I certainly wouldn't do nothing or ignore it.

[Mystic Mock]

check to see if the elderly lady was alright and then chase the bastard that robbed her,obviously if he/she had a knife then i would call the police.

[GypsyGoth]

I can just imagine you trying to save the woman wearing some Pink cape and a pair of boxing gloves shouting down the road " Don't worry betty darling i am coming " and going up to the man and trying to fend him off by waving your hands everywhere before tripping over the road curb and knocking yourself out

:laugh2:

[Angus]

I once saw a young woman being slapped and punched in the street by this guy, and I shouted out to him to stop and that I was calling the police. To my total shock, the woman turned round and let rip a tirade of obscenities at me, to the effect that I should mind my own business if I knew what was good for me. The guy meanwhile just stood there and casually lit up a cigarette!:shocked: Needless to say, I made a hasty retreat.

Another time there was a drunk guy by the bus stop who had fallen and hit his head on the kerb, he was bleeding profusely yet no-one in the bus queue gave him a second glance. This was years ago when I didn't have a mobile phone, so I ran back to my home to phone for an ambulance then went back to him with some towels etc till the ambulance arrived. Self inflicted injury or not, how can you leave someone like that?

But the incident that really made my blood boil was when my eldest son was 14 years old and out with his mate (who happened to be asian) in Eltham High Street. They were surrounded by a gang of 18-20 year olds who asked my son what he was doing with a n***** and other foul racial abuse. My son's friend managed to break free and run, but my son was pinned against a wall in full view of every passerby on the high street, who did nothing to help him. He was robbed of the few pounds he had, punched and kicked but managed to stay upright which is probably what saved him from worse injuries than if he had been on the ground. I remember raging at the sort of people who could watch a young lad being set on by a gang of savages and do absolutely nothing to help him. My son was black and blue but thankfully recovered, but it left him traumatised about going out and about for a long time.

[InOne]

I once saw a young woman being slapped and punched in the street by this guy, and I shouted out to him to stop and that I was calling the police. To my total shock, the woman turned round and let rip a tirade of obscenities at me, to the effect that I should mind my own business if I knew what was good for me. The guy meanwhile just stood there and casually lit up a cigarette!:shocked: Needless to say, I made a hasty retreat.

Another time there was a drunk guy by the bus stop who had fallen and hit his head on the kerb, he was bleeding profusely yet no-one in the bus queue gave him a second glance. This was years ago when I didn't have a mobile phone, so I ran back to my home to phone for an ambulance then went back to him with some towels etc till the ambulance arrived. Self inflicted injury or not, how can you leave someone like that?

But the incident that really made my blood boil was when my eldest son was 14 years old and out with his mate (who happened to be asian) in Eltham High Street. They were surrounded by a gang of 18-20 year olds who asked my son what he was doing with a n***** and other foul racial abuse. My son's friend managed to break free and run, but my son was pinned against a wall in full view of every passerby on the high street, who did nothing to help him. He was robbed of the few pounds he had, punched and kicked but managed to stay upright which is probably what saved him from worse injuries than if he had been on the ground. I remember raging at the sort of people who could watch a young lad being set on by a gang of savages and do absolutely nothing to help him. My son was black and blue but thankfully recovered, but it left him traumatised about going out and about for a long time.

Sadly this is all too common. People show this fake kind of sympathy when watching the news or reading the paper, but really what it is is they're just glad it didn't happen to them or anyone they know. People don't care these days, no such thing as the good of humanity.

[Benjamin]

Actually this is a good question. It would seem obvious to help and everyone says they would but it has been shown that it doesn't always happen due to bystander effect, the most well known example being the Kitty Genovese murder...


http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/bystandereffect.htm

[30stone]

It is understandable to an extent.. too often nowadays with a gang of young lads one of them could be carrying a knife..

On your way home from work its your daughters 2nd birthday wife waiting for you, stop to help a young lad from getting beaten.. get stabbed.. and die, i know so many people who have said they would be afriad to step in because of soemthing like that happening..

Someone should have at least phoned the police though.. they like to stay away.

[Tom]

Actually this is a good question. It would seem obvious to help and everyone says they would but it has been shown that it doesn't always happen due to bystander effect, the most well known example being the Kitty Genovese murder...


http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/bystandereffect.htm

Someone remembers their A Level Psychology :joker:

[fruit_cake]

probably look around for a hero type bloke and point him in the right direction

[Benjamin]

Someone remembers their A Level Psychology :joker:

:hugesmile:

LOL. It's one of the few things I can remember.

[Z]

I got assaulted when I was crossing the road at an intersection of an A road and another main street at home. There was a driver of a car sitting at the traffic lights who saw the whole thing and didn't help me, there was nobody else around. Nobody wants to put themselves at risk because people are dangerous nowadays. That said, if you were with a group of people and saw the same thing happening, you'd be more likely to intervene due to safety in numbers I guess.

[Niall]

Ring the police straight away then intervene.

[Twilight]

Ring the police.

[Locke.]

I am more likely to save a younger girl or a kid than an old woman. They would probably only have a box of eggs and a pint of milk on them anyway

[Shasown]

Shout at them/him/her to stop, when they looked to see who or what was happening make sure they saw me going to use my mobile phone.

Simply attempting to intervene from a distance is enough to deter most petty criminals.

Then play the rest of the situation out by ear.

[cub]

Take a picture and send it to the Daily Mail with the heading "The State of Britain's Streets Today!"

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

probably look around for a hero type bloke and point him in the right direction

:worship:

[bananarama]

First instinct i think would be to shout. Muggers won't hang around so then all one could do is go to her and call the police.

I would never intervene with a couple arguing that broke out into violence.....They are more likely to turn on you.


Walking my dod one evening the dog stopped to do a wee right next to a young couple having a barny......He was actually threatening to strangle her .....What I did do is simply stay there with the dog...Did not intervene......

Then what happened surprised me and made me feel angry towards the women being threatened.......After telling her he would strangle her he then wlked away and what did she do.......Yea she said on no please don't go.........Female idiot should have let him go to calm down into a safer mood......Thankfully he did keep walking and went.... Possibly because I was standing there as a witness but not provoking him into turning his attentions to me......

Domestic disputes keep well away from as you are more likely to become a victim from the pair of them......

[Livia]

I am more likely to save a younger girl or a kid than an old woman. They would probably only have a box of eggs and a pint of milk on them anyway

Jesus... what a charmer you are.

[Livia]

I was mugged quite badly once. Beaten severely, robbed, left unconscious... took me a while to get over it. Now I am over it I can't stand to see people being aggressive to others and I would be inclined to steam in and have a go. Particularly if the people being victimised are frail or elderly. If we're lucky, we'll all be elderly one day... I'd like to think someone would help an elderly relative of mine... clearly, reading some of these posts, that's not the case.

[joeysteele]

I was mugged quite badly once. Beaten severely, robbed, left unconscious... took me a while to get over it. Now I am over it I can't stand to see people being aggressive to others and I would be inclined to steam in and have a go. Particularly if the people being victimised are frail or elderly. If we're lucky, we'll all be elderly one day... I'd like to think someone would help an elderly relative of mine... clearly, reading some of these posts, that's not the case.

Sorry to hear you have been mugged in the past Livia and I totally agree with your comments above.

The last 3 lines of your post are hopefully very thought provoking to many people.

[Tom4784]

I think it would depend on the situation, if there was only one I'd ring the police and make myself known to scare them off, same if they were just a bunch of kids. I don't think I'd directly intervene but I'd phone the police and see if I can get a few pictures so that they can be caught. If I was with a group of people I'd take a more active stand but as a solitary figure against a gang the only sensible thing you can do is phone the police.

[lostalex]

Imagine if we treated old lady muggings, the same way we treat rapes.... "HOW DO WE KNOW SHE'S NOT LYING JUST FOR ATTENTION!!??" "HOW DO WE KNOW THIS WOMAN SN'T JUST A MAN-HATING FEMINSIST TRYING TO PERSECUTE INNOCENT MEN!"

Isn't it amazing how differently our society treats crimes against certain people. When a woman is raped, or accusses a man of harrasment, society autmatically jumps to ideas of a woman trying to exlploit a man if it's a young attractive woman.

But if it's an old woman, who is no longer considered sexually attractive by society, then we are outraged. HOW DARE SOMEONE TAKE ADVATAGE OF A WOMAN!!!.

Western society has so much misogyny it's amazing.

[Ninastar]

I helped an old woman across the street today! She was telling me that shes had 3 glasses of wine, and that her husband is having a kidney transplant. I felt really bad for her.

That was OT i know, but I didn't know where else to say it...

But if I were to see an elderly woman being mugged, I would remember what the dude looked like, and help the woman report it to the police or w.e