@laotou. I agree. As a foreigner, one has to be more careful since this is not our homeland. Since I've been here I've had to refrain from doing what comes naturally for me ( in terms of helping). The more you live here, the more you start to adapt to the ways. It's just how it is. There are too many 骗子 and sometimes it is to hard to tell who's who.
This afternoon, looking out of the window of my living room, I witnessed a street incident. A bag full of a type of large fruit being carried by a late middle-aged man on a bicycle split open and the contents began to spread out at different angles across the road. The road itself is on an incline and the fruit rolled away quickly leaving the man struggling to gather up the spilt contents. Out of several students on either side of the road just one stopped momentarily to offer even a modicum of assistance. My immediate thoughts towards the bystanders (some actually moved to avoid the rolling fruit) was - "selfish bastards". A knee-jerk response by me, totally unscientific and without any analysis of cultural norms. However, on reflection and since reading this thread, my thoughts about the bystanders........ "selfish bastards".
@ Liucmingke TIC
@ Lautou, "good samaritan" laws in the west apply to not just Nurses and and the other allied healthcare workers like physios, pharmacists, Respiratory therapists and md's, but also to police, fire fighters, any first responder including the general public.
They were implemented to prevent lawyers and greedy families who want to sue.
If you help (or are wronged by) a "home town person" the mob and the local police will support them instantly. Always carry and record any incident on your camera phone.
sadly I have to say that even as someone who is ACLS, TNCC, PALS, BLS certified for over 20 years, I would be very wary to help anyone (including Laowia) here in the streets of China, due to the probable trouble they or their family might bring to me.
If your conscious and need help from accident or assault, you need to break the "crowd" bystander mentality by yelling for assistance from a specific individual. For instance, don't just yell a generic "help me" at the whole crowd, pick out the guy in the red shirt and yell "you, in the red shirt, come help me."
@CROwai, Umm...actually, some people do have very boring lives here in China, especially elderly people so watching an accident unfold is a form of entertainment, even if it's not in a good way. Think of it as a "live" form of watching the news. I think what some of the posters have tried to say here is that watching an accident unfold is not an everyday event, so of course they'll start watching. For some people here (less than a few years ago, but still), just staring at a foreigner is a "form of entertainment". Those people's lives must be completely boring if watching a foreigner walk past them could grab their attention, so I think stopping to watch the circumstances that unfold relating to an accident will grab some people's attention. This would be the case even in the west.
Also, the other responses about possibly causing trouble for yourself if you get involved are true. Unfortunately, China does not have the same form of law and order as the west just yet. This explains people's lack of willingness to get involved.
dont blame them for being selfish and frigid, a true story：my aunt is a doctor, her daughter and her classmate helped a injured old lady, the result is the two innecent 10 years old captured by policemen, the old lady told the police that the two girl hurt her!. so many stories in China are like this, that made people's heart very cold!.
Pointless comment; removed it.
To be honest, it's just a bad excuse to not feel guilty if you don't help someone.
Yes there have been cases where "victims" sued the samaritan, but to what i've read in the news most of those cases have been lost and in few cases they victim was put in jail, for trying to make profit.
And the law changed thats why you see those videos in the bus with the everyday hero in it helping crash victims.
Don't have the link but I read it few days ago.
In January a scooter-girl got hit by a car in ShiJiCheng and this Chinese Bloke was doing a great job in First Aid at least as much for what we could do there and he was no medical staff. So I guess it's not always as bad as one thinks.
But yeah there are always some people staring but so is it in the US or EUROPE just that we have less people walking around...so, do the math. Also look at those spectators,... come on, not exactly the crowd you would invite over to dinner. Most of them lack Social Intelligence or plain courtesy but I guess that goes back to manners and education at home.
In my experience all the accidents I was present or involved in were all "normal" always someone calling the cops and ambulance and when I helped the only thing happened is the victims being very grateful.
So can't actually confirm that except those annoying onlookers. But we have them too back home, don't we?
