While on the trip to Kentucky I saw two fat guys.
The first I saw in the airport on the way. He was a Polynesian man in his fifties. I was sitting in one of the really uncomfortable chairs things when I watched him approach the information desk located by our gate. It was unmanned. He walked right up to the computer, stood his carry-on upright, and began typing. Then I noticed the Polynesian woman of the same age standing in front of the little desk looking from side to side.
Incredulously, I leaned over to the woman sitting next to me and pointed out what was happening. After discussing it, we decided that he was not very likely an employee that was simply off duty.
The second I saw in Wendy's, and I instantly disliked him. The fact that he was fat, slovenly, and unkempt was bad enough. Then he answered his phone and began speaking louder than I thought anyone ever would unless they were angry. (He was not, incidentally; he was merely speaking at an incredible volume.) Then he announced to his friend that he was at Wendy's getting a salad. "You know," I thought to myself, "though clearly an undesirable, you aren't half bad, man."
PS I never did find out who the Polynesian man bumped off of the flight so that he and his wife could go from standby to actually having a seat.
7 years ago
4 comments:
Did you mention it to the real on duty employees?
Nope. I was just minding my own business. Who cares if he single-handedly brought down three airliners by his disruptive behavior?
You'd be perfect for the show, 'What Would You Do?'...I'm always amazed at the people the just pretend to ignore whatever happens. It's another show online and I find it fairly fascinating. I recommend checking it out.
Don't worry, Dave, you're not the only one that behaves this way. This is called the Bystander Effect (or sometimes the Genovese Syndrome).
The Wikipedia article on the topic is a fascinating read. Here's a short excerpt:
"The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation when other people are present. The probability of help is inversely proportional to the number of bystanders."
"[Experiments] virtually always find that the presence of others inhibits helping, often by a large margin."
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