Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum.

- Graycie Harmon

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Humanity Lost - A Rant

What happened to goodness? What happened to compassion? What happened to understanding?

What the hell happened to respect?

Yesterday a report came through of a female police officer who was surprised-attacked by a knife-wielding sociopath as she exited a shop investigating an unrelated robbery. She was rescued by a civilian who saw her on the ground with this maniac attacking her.

Instead of sucking in their breath at the wounds the officer sustained (mostly on her hands. The wounds she sustained on her neck were superficial), people I know mocked her. They spoke of her incompetence, and how terrible her training must have been if she (a decorated officer) let this man (over 50 years old) best her. They laughed at how she went into shock following the attack. They rolled their eyes at how a cop had to be rescued by a civilian (never mind that the attacker was probably so focussed on trying to get at the cop that the civilian took him by surprise also).

I am so disappointed in humanity right now.

I was accused of turning their mockery into a "pissing contest" when I challenged them on how they would cope if some maniac with a knife jumped them unexpectedly. After all, they are trained Martial Artists.

My point is this, to utter such asinine opinions based solely on details provided in tabloid-style, poorly reported journalism; to mock someone who is in considerable pain, who was fighting for her life, whether a trained and decorated cop or no, is beyond contemptible.

Yes, cops ought to be held to a higher standard then every day folk. Every day folk aren't trained to deal with situations as members of the police force are.

However, let me remind you that cops are still people, people. Some of them let the power they wield get to their heads and become raging sociapaths themselves. Others are compassionate, intelligent and incredibly helpful people. No matter their disposition, they feel pain. They bleed. They have bad days. They get caught off guard occasionally.

That is not something to be mocked.

How they hell would the mockers know how it went down that day? How dare they accuse a decorated police woman of incompetence for one mistake, for having a bad day, for getting caught off guard. For all we know, she did everything right, it just didn't work out that particular time. Puncher's chance.

More to the point, no matter what training you've received, training is not real life. The gym is not the street. Kick-boxing in an octagon is not a street fight. A controlled training situation is not being jumped as you leave a shop.

Even more to the point, until you've been in that situation yourself, you have no right to judge how the victim handled themselves. Chances are, you'd be sitting on the curb in a puddle of your own blood, weeping for the shock yourselves if you went through what that cop went through.

Thank-you to the man who rescued her.

The rest of you can go jump.



Where have all the good men gone?

5 comments:

Genevieve said...

I'm with you Sonia!!!!! What is wrong with people that they scoff at and criticize other people's misfortune!

S.M. Carrière said...

I don't know. I'll skype you this weekend if you're free - one of the mockers took me by surprise. It was quite a shock to me!

Anna L. Walls said...

Unfortunately people do it all the time in one way or another. It's their way of lowering the playing field to their level. I'm glad she's ok and I'm thrilled that someone stepped up to help - he was obviously braver than anyone doing the scoffing and definitely braver than anyone who stood by watching. As for shock, I've seen grown men, big strong men, pale and reach for a chair at the sight of a single drop of blood.

Renee Miller said...

I think that she only suffered injuries to her hands and nothing life threatening attests to her GOOD training and excellent self defense skills. The 'average joe" would likely be dead or in hospital. Shock? I'd like these people to explain to me how you are supposed to train your body's natural defense mechanisms not to protect it, as we are designed to do. Better yet, let me see them NOT go into shock after such an event.

I'm disgusted with humanity as well Sonia, but I'm glad and encouraged that someone did step in. I read a post the other day about a woman who froze to death in Toronto. Neighbors heard her screams but thought that it might be a situation where their lives would be in danger should they intervene. Simple solution: 911. I don't get how anyone could hear someone screaming and not pick up a damn phone, just as I don't see how an officer surviving a viscious attack is reason for ridicule. Are we so insecure in ourselves that we have to make ourselves feel better through the suffering of others?

S.M. Carrière said...

Anna, exactly. I'm really upset over the horrible attitude of the gentlemen in question - one in particular whom I had previously thought was above that.

And a double exactly, Renee. I heard about that poor woman, and I am so disgusted.

Grrrr!

But, there are good people in the world, and I am glad I know some of them! I'm trying to focus on that for now to keep my blood-pressure in check!