A couple of weeks ago a woman in Humboldt was attacked downtown by a man she did not know. For some reason, she was grabbed by this person, and despite her resistance, he held on, trying to make her go with him somewhere.
This happened on Main Street, downtown Humboldt, in broad daylight. People were around. But most of them did not stop to help. People walked on by her as she was being attacked.
That's just awful, in my opinion.
I understand that people walking by may not have known what was going on, and were leery of getting involved because they thought it was some sort of domestic dispute. But that poor woman didn't know what was happening either. And even if it was a domestic dispute, since when is it okay to just stand by and watch a woman get beat up, even if she is married to her attacker?
I can't say what I would have done in that situation. But I hope, even in a limited capacity, I would have helped. I'm not very tall, and not very strong, but I have a big voice. I hope I would have yelled at him, or yelled for help - something, to try and get him to let her go, to save her some bruises.
Discussing this issue with a friend in law enforcement, she said that in a crisis, some people just freeze and are unable to do anything. But shouldn't that also prevent them from walking away? From stepping around this scene that they found unpleasant?
People walked right on by while this woman was screaming her head off and did nothing to help - something I never thought would happen in a place like Humboldt.
It shows just how far from our pioneer roots we've grown.
Coincidentally, last week, I read a book about a pioneer woman named Sigurbjorg Stefansson from my home area of Wynyard. It told the story of her family moving to Wynyard from the United States in 1904. They found a homestead, built a house, cleared some land, and got some livestock in their first few months there. But then, Sigurbjorg's father cut his leg badly while cutting hay. There was no doctor around for miles, but neighbours came to help both dress the wound as best they could, and help Sigurbjorg and her mother. Neighbours built them a barn so their animals could survive the winter. And they took turns staying at the Stefansson home to help with chores.
That was commonplace back then. The community looked after one another. Neighbours cared, and took action when needed.
How many of us can say that we would do all that for our neighbours now?
Not many, if we consider the number of people who walked by a woman being attacked last week.
We need to change our attitudes, get back to our roots, if we want our community to be a good one with all the changes that are coming our way. We need to be proactive, and step in if we don't agree with something that is happening right in front of us. We need to not just call ourselves the big city with the small town feel, but live it. What happened last week was a wake-up call for all of us that way.
