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March 28, 2005

Did you see something?

If you see something... all big city dwellers know the end of that sentence. If you are not living in a big city, the correct answer is Òsay something." Is it me or is that counterintuitive? Well, maybe not that, but against the law of the big city. Keep your mouth shut and keep it moving ... call the cops at the corner. I know it sounds callous, but I really think that is how most urbanites live. It's just one of those things.

Case in point, I once broke up a fight, and feeling much like ÒShaft,Ó I told my sister about the incident and got the complete wrong response. The long and the short of it was, "thatÕs how people get killed." After assuring her that she was overreacting, I switched the subject. Still looking for some kind of kudos, I told my then-girlfriend ... now she would tell me I was like Shaft -- hell, I would have settled for Robin at that point. she, too, was upset with me. And, again, I hear the same thing: "You could have been killed." I let the whole thing go and would not have brought it up again except for my sister's persistence. She proceeded over the next two weeks to show me newspaper clippings. ThatÕs right -- "Good Samaritan killed breaking up fight. Bystanders in coma after trying to stop fight from happening." Wow, who knew. And in all of these clippings, the two people that were fighting get away with minor cuts, maybe a gash on the arm. So let me tell you something that the signs are not: If you see something, say something...from a safe distance.

Just one last note: Asking a city dweller if he or she has seen something out of the ordinary is like asking an Eskimo if he has seen snow. The answer is always YES.

Posted by Kwaku at March 28, 2005 2:39 PM

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