Today at work, I lifeguarded a gathering of mentally handicapped people (yes, at a swimming pool -- definitely a good place to have such a meeting). On the last spot of the day, I was directing (to the best of my ability) people going down a roughly 20 foot tall waterslide. A little boy, roughly age 4 or 5, went down and got "stuck" (that is, stopped moving) about halfway down the slide. This happens rather frequently. His reaction to this does NOT happen frequently: he stood up and began walking up the slide back to the top. As soon as he got almost to the top (I was whistling and screaming pretty much the whole time with no success), he saw that the last stretch of the slide he needed to climb up to get in line was rather steep, so he begins trying to climb OUT of the slide. Remember, he's about 20 feet up, and if he falls out, he's going to land on a concrete walkway. Soon as I see this, I jump in front of everyone to go down the slide and grabbed the child to prevent him from jumping out of the slide onto the concrete. So, pretty much, I saved this child's life.
If you're the parent of a child (a mentally handicapped child, no less) who attempts to do something that will almost definitely kill him, and someone stops him from doing this, how would you speak about the person who saved your child?
After the shift, the parent came to the slide to get her child (he was attempting to open the gate on the slide after I'd bungeed it shut), and the guard working at the bottom of the slide and I explain what happened with her child. She immediately freaks out -- saying things like "What am I supposed to do about this? I was in the shower! (yes, not watching your four year old son almost die) He's HANDICAPPED! Why shouldn't he be allowed to go down the slide? Is this fair? You're BAD PEOPLE." To the best of my knowledge, the mother was not herself handicapped.
So, the next time you're in a situation where someone's life is in danger, don't do anything. You wouldn't want someone to think you're a BAD PERSON, would you?
As an aside, my faith in humanity is at an all-time low.