The Responsibility of All People

I live in an apartment building. Based on other buildings I've lived in and/or visited, I'd say it's a pretty normal set up. Multiple floors, four units on each floor. So, on the top floor, each unit has a unit next door and a unit below, then a unit across the hall and one kitty-corner. Like I said, pretty normal.

My neighbor across the hall, who we'll call Garrett, likes to beat his girlfriend, who I'll call Lori. And Lori is a screamer. A very loud, very obvious screamer. I'm not shaming Lori for screaming when her boyfriend beats her. I'm merely pointing out that she is loud and it's very apparent when she's being beaten.

It's not uncommon for me to come home around midnight, and hear Lori screaming. From the entrance. I live on the top floor. As I climb the stairs, Lori's screaming becomes more coherent. "No! Stop! Don't! Please don't hit me!"

Yep. From two floors down, I can hear my neighbor screaming "Please don't hit me!" I usually can't hear the blows landing until I reach at least the second floor. By the time I reach the floor they and I live on, I'm debating if I should break the door down and pound this asshole myself or just call the police. So I go into my apartment, lock the door, and call the police. The police usually show up pretty quickly. Lori is usually still screaming when I buzz the police into the building.

By now, I figure you're all expecting a rant about this dick hole who beats his girlfriend. That's not what's going to happen. I trust you all know why it's not okay to beat your partner. The rant that's about to happen is about the other neighbors in the building. Specifically the neighbors who share common walls (or ceiling/floor in one case). If I can hear this shit from across the hall, you know the downstairs neighbors hear what's going on. You know the next-door neighbor hears what's happening. There's no way in Hell I'm the only person in the building who hears Lori screaming "Don't hit me!" followed by the sound of Garrett hitting her. Yet I'm the only person who has ever called the police.

It's so very rare that I'll bust out religion in any way, especially since I don't practice any religion, but here it comes. The Talmud states that it is the responsibility of all Jewish people to take care of all other Jewish people. My personal philosophy is to remove the word "Jewish" from that sentence. I know, I rage about silly things a lot. Mostly it's for the sake of humor. But if you look closely, most of my raging is about people mistreating other people (that and grammar. And maybe a little bit about Michael Buble, but I readily admit my contempt for him is unfounded and that he seems lovely in interviews). So, let's make that edit.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL OTHER PEOPLE.

That's it. That's all everyone needs to know about social interaction. So if you hear your neighbor in a dangerous situation, DO SOMETHING! You don't need to charge over there with a baseball bat and physically defend her, but call the police. I can't force Lori to leave Garrett. The police can't force Lori to leave Garrett (though they can press charges on her behalf in my state). But every time I hear him beating her, I'm calling the police so that she has documentation if she ever does decide to leave and press charges. And when the people who in one way or another witness this abuse, how could she possibly feel safe leaving? Nothing says "Nobody will support you" like NOBODY SUPPORTING YOU! Refusal to report abuse is tantamount to saying "You're not worth defending." I find it tremendously upsetting that my other neighbors are okay with ignoring what goes on. Lori is a human being. No human being, no living creature, deserves that. Nobody deserves to be beaten, at all, ever, but sure as Hell not in their own home.

A few more anecdotes about people not giving a fuck about those around them.

I heard a commotion outside a few weeks ago. I got up, went to the window, and saw several fire trucks pulling into the apartment complex, to the building across the lot from mine. I stayed upstairs and out of the way until I saw the firefighters coming back outside and kind of milling around the parking lot. With the crisis under control, I ran downstairs and to the nearest slack-jawed gawker. "What's going on? Do you know if everyone's all right?"

"There's a fire."

"Yeah, I figured that much, given there are five fire trucks. Is everyone all right?"

"It's in that building."

"Yeah, dude, I have eyes. IS EVERYONE ALL RIGHT?!"

"Oh, I don't know. I didn't ask that."

Repeat with three more bystanders.  Okay, at this point, we're not looking at "Ooh, somewhere down the road, Garrett might end up killing Lori. Let's make sure her body doesn't end up in the dumpster." We're looking at "Oh, Hell, somebody we know could be dead right now." Having the information wouldn't change anything. But if our neighbor had passed away, we could be helping her family. I finally found out after talking to the rental office that the fire occurred in the kitchen of an elderly woman and was started by improper use of her microwave and that she was fine.

Another example. My mother is terrified of snakes. Like seriously terrified. I lived about 25 minutes away from her when I received a 2 a.m. phone call of just incoherent screaming. Not even knowing what was wrong, my then boyfriend and I ran out the door and drove over to my mother's. When we pulled into the driveway and opened the car doors, we could hear my mother screaming, and heard the words, "No! No! No, Molly! Molly! Molly, no!" Molly is my mother's cat. We ran into the house and found my mother standing in the door to the bathroom screaming. Then we saw the small snake in her bathroom (the cat had tried to go into the bathroom, and my mother had been screaming to stop her from getting near the snake). I grabbed my mother and led her outside while my then-boyfriend grabbed the tiny snake and took it outside and far, far away from my mother's house. In the driveway, my mother continued to panic and scream, insisting Tom kill the snake. None of the neighbors called the police, or even bothered to look outside. True, most of them were likely asleep when this incident started, but there is no way she didn't wake up somebody. I definitely feel more strongly about this than I do about other incidents of unconcerned neighbors because, y'know, it's my mom. But seriously? Your neighbor's outside screaming for at least thirty minutes and you do NOTHING? NOTHING?! At least be narcissistic enough to be concerned for your own safety and call the police to say "My neighbor is screaming like she's being murdered. Can somebody go check and make sure we're all safe?"

It is the responsibility of all people to take care of all other people. All the time. Any time. Not just when it benefits you to do so.