Boston: a hot mess

I've got an idea: let's go back to being human

Even before the Bruins laced on their skates for the fateful and fatal game 7 of the Stanley Cup, Boston has been a hot mess all week.  Two train derailments in a week have added commuting havoc to commutes that are always a mess.   (For those unfamiliar with Boston commuting woes, Beantown spent billions on the Big Dig, only to have to be too little too late).  And although the Green line is back in service, the MBTA has no ETA for when the Red line will be fixed.  Add to this more rain, under-performing Red Sox, an influx of tourists - and tempers are short.    

They say that adversity either brings out the best in people or it brings out the worse. I've been working and commuting into Boston for the better part of my professional career.   And yesterday was truly the first time I have to say that Boston was showing it's worst side.

Boston Disappointment #1:  As I was walking from the train side of South Station to the bus side of the station, I came upon woman lying on one of the platforms right next to an empty train.  She had fallen out of her automatic wheelchair/scooter.    

Before I reached the woman, at least a dozen people walked RIGHT BY HER as she lay there.  In hindsight, I wondered if they simply didn't see her.  But in reality, there was no missing her.  Her scooter was bright blue.  Her bags and scooter parts were all over the platform.  To get to the bus station you had to literally walk around her.  And a dozen people did - leaving her there in a heap.

The woman wasn't a big lady, but neither am I.   It took about 10 minutes to get her back into her wheelchair, to get her bags packed up, to put the scooter back together (this was due to my complete lack of mechanical ability).  During that 10 minutes NOT ONE person asked if we needed help.   After she was all reorganized, she said she was all right, but she seemed off.   

Boston Disappointment #2  I walked about 20 yards into South Station and immediately found a security guard.   When I mentioned what happened - and nicely asked the guard to call someone to see if the woman needed additional help -  the guard said "That platform is part of the train station. I only work in the bus station."    I explained that we could SEE the woman from where we were talking, and re-asked if she could find someone to check in on her.  Once again told no.  "That's not my job."

(It's worth noting that most of the security at South Station is done by private companies, who are paid for by our taxpayer dollars.  So, this isn't a "anti-government" rant.)

At that point  I lost it.  I nicely reminded the guard that taxpayer dollars were paying her salary.  I mentioned that it's just common human decency to help someone in need regardless of your "job."  I got a blank stare. I then found the MBTA transit police who immediately went to help the woman.

I don't share this story so people give me kudos.  That's not the point.  The point is:  when did we lose our humanity?  When did we stop caring about others to the point that we will leave a disabled woman lying on a train platform?  When did we start feeling like we can ignore someone who needs help because we're in a hurry or it's been a tough commuting week or we don't want to get involved or it's not our job?  Honestly Boston - WTF?

I understand that not everyone is like this.  But yesterday - at South Station in Boston, Massachusetts - everyone was acting like they didn't care about anyone but themselves.  It's not a good look.  It's inhumane.  And the "it's not my job" is going to literally be the end of us.

Let's be better than this.