What If No One Cared
Last week something happened where I took a moment and decided that I would react to what was happening in a completely not natural to me way as a thought experiment. I am starting this week's blog with the story of what happened and will then give some examples of reactions I received when I told others this story and asked them what they would do. I'm sharing this story because I think it is a good example of a critical thinking scenario and how we can start conversations with learners about the importance of critical thinking, the impact of different choices, and why some folk make the choices they do.
Last week I was on my way home from work on the city bus about 4 stops from my house when the situation I will describe happened. The bus was relatively full for that time in the afternoon, and the passengers were mainly folk and families who were coming home with shopping carts and bags of groceries because it was Thursday and for a lot of folk that is pay day, the day they can do groceries. A passenger got off at the stop about 4 away from mine via the back door. It is summer here and the trees are plentiful and when the doors opened and the passenger left the back doors refused to close. I was listening to music so didn't really figure out what was going on until it took a tad too long to start again and I realized the back doors were still open but that the bus driver was attempting to close them. It was then that I noticed the branch and leaves that were in the way of the door and realized that the reason why the door wasn't closing was that the back doors have sensors that will prevent it closing if something is in the way from a safety point of view.
Yay safety, we like safety, my brain said, especially when you have passengers who may need more time to leave the bus. But then my brain also said, you should tell the bus driver what the issue is so we can be on our way. However, in that moment I thought, okay you are 4 stops from your house, you could walk if the bus stops here, it is not very warm in the bus because the air conditioner is going, the other passengers do not seem to be too concerned about how long this is taking, so maybe just as a thought experiment don't do the typical thing you would do, don't say anything, and just see how this plays out. And so that is what I did. I sat there for 5 minutes as the bus driver restarted the bus twice without luck and didn't figure out that the issue was the branch in the way. The whole time I felt really uncomfortable, and kept thinking, gosh is this what people do all the time, is this what "not my problem" feels like in practice, wow this feels really bad, I don't like this feeling at all. Finally after about 6 minutes or so of sitting there one of the other passengers in the back yells to the bus driver "hey buddy, I think it may be the branch that's in the road." And sure enough the driver comes back, moves the branch, the doors close and we are on our way.
I share this story as I say because I think it is a good example of everyday things that happen that folk have a real opportunity to speak up about, or change, but do nothing because they feel it is not their job to do so. When I shared this story with a few people I was also shocked at the range of responses I got. My mother was kind of shocked I didn't say anything and was equally shocked at how the bus driver couldn't figure it out on his own. A colleague who is younger said they would not have said anything either, because well when things like this happen they do a risk analysis and if no one is in direct harm they kinda just let it happen cause it isn't their job to say anything. A friend who is about the same age as me was also shocked that I didn't do anything cause that was very unlike me, but also quickly went to where my brain went which is, is this why nothing changes in the world? Another friend who has small kids said they would have probably said something if they had noticed, but the chances they noticed were slim because they would probably be watching their kids.
This variety of feelings and responses to this one odd occurrence last week has me thinking about how this kind of lower-risk scenario would make for a good debate topic in classes, especially for those of you who are teaching in social science or education, though I can see how something similar could also be applicable to a science situation. For example, when I worked in a geochemical lab, one of my colleague's beakers had been left on the hot plate and he forgot about it with a particular mixture of chemicals that if it went dry would risk fire. I of course removed the beaker for him and went in the other room and let him know and he was grateful for my attention.
I doubt if put in a similar situation again that I could remain quiet, but I will say it was interesting to work through the ethical impacts and feelings the scenario caused. I mean I think it says a lot about me that it bothers me a week later that I didn't say anything, like what butterfly effect did losing those 6 minutes cause for me or others? But I am curious if you would have said something, if your saying something is contextual like my colleagues and friends, and if you can see how a lower-risk scenario like this could have some place in your courses or discussion spaces as a debate prompt. For a week I have been thinking of the impact that delay could have caused, and honestly if it went on much longer I would have said something, because I am thinking of people missing connections, or medication that needs taking at certain times, or melted ice cream in shopping carts etc. Have you had similar situations happen? I don't know why I am so deeply curious about this very tedious occurrence, but I would love to hear your thoughts about this, as I suspect that in some ways this is representative of why it feels like no one cares about the things that they should care about any more and how that impacts morale and wellness.
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