According to MSNBC.com, courts in New York city struck down the antiquated notion of heroism, of the everyday man or woman who stands up in defense of those in trouble.
The then 22-year-old young woman’s name is Maria, and four years ago she was raped on the New York subway system. Two subway employees (one a clerk, the other a subway conductor) saw Maria being attacked at 2 a.m. on her way home from school. A judge ruled that the employees were shown to have “taken prompt and decisive action” by pressing a button that alerted authorities to the attack. They’re almost heroes!
Not quite.
Maria told the TODAY show Wednesday morning that she didn’t expect the clerk, whom she said held eye contact with her for a full five seconds before being bodily dragged down a flight of stairs, to jump out of his booth and come to her rescue. She didn’t expect the conductor to stop the train he was driving, come out, and save her from being brutally raped - twice. She told the TODAY show that even a call over the intercom would have probably driven the rapist off. (He still hasn’t been caught.)
Maria might not have expected them to perform such obvious acts of heroism, but I do. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy in his mid 20’s; maybe it’s because I read a lot of comic books as a kid, or watched a lot of Spider-man and Superman and Batman; maybe it’s because my parents instilled a feeling of responsibility inside me that I feel deeply guilty every time I pass someone on the side of the road, walking or waiting for someone to help, to pick them up, to give them a hand.
There are obvious reasons to not help, of course. “He might have had a knife or a gun!” “It was none of my business.” “I’ve got a family to think about.” “I’m no hero.”
Those are completely valid reasons. They’re also steeped in such cowardice, such social irresponsibility, such callous lack of feeling or care for the lives of our fellow human beings that the users of those statements, wherever they are said, should be bathed in shame.
Yes, he might have had a gun or a knife, so you might have stopped a murder. No, it wasn’t any of your business; except in the general sense that this woman is a part of your city, your country, your world. Yes, you may have a family to think about; I don’t rightly know how one would be able to look their spouse or children in the eye if help had not been rendered.
No, you’re not a hero. Except that a hero is created when someone recognizes their responsibility to help, a responsibility those two employees cast off, thinking that the only thing needing doing was a simple button push.
Maybe I’m naive. I think I’d rather embrace that naivete and hope that these two are exceptions, aberrations. That real people, common people, are more decent, more heroic.
Maria told the TODAY show that speaking out about her ordeal is helping her heal after four years of post-traumatic stress disorder, which has caused her to drop out of school. I can’t help thinking that she wouldn’t need such a catharsis if those subway workers had not indulged in their cowardice, and instead became heroes.
Maybe I’m naive.
Maria’s story can be found at www.msnbc.com. David Ryan Palmer is a writer and reporter for the Southwest Daily News in Sulphur, Louisiana. He can be e-mailed at nonah.me@gmail.com
