What Would You Do?

I can't remember when this show aired, but it was one of those hidden camera scenarios where situations are created to see how people will react to them.  Unfortunately, these weren't funny moments that the Ellen show will sometimes create to get a laugh.  We are talking Oprah here.  Not that she can't be funny, but her show has a more serious tone.  In one scene teenage girls being mean to another girl were videotaped to see if anyone would stop and intervene to help the lone girl being bullied.  Many men walked on by, but various women stopped to help.  The women found themselves stooping to the teenagers level often mimicking their body language to get their point across.   I have to admit, I would also find it hard to keep my body language out of it after witnessing the cruel words and attitude being thrown around.  I am three quarters Italian after all.  Psychologist, Carrie Keating, talked about social aggression among girls and how words hurt for a long time compared to a bruise. According to Carrie,   it's important to praise ourselves in a positive way.  It's funny how I can remember something mean someone may have said to me 20 years ago, but I don't remember any physical scrapes or cuts.  The exception to that would be when I picked up a razor in the shower by it's blade.  Not too smart on my part.  

They also videotaped a Muslim girl at a bakery who was refused service and verbally abused.  Many people were indifferent and offered no help to the woman and some even sided with the store clerk.  It was very disheartening to watch the discrimination.  In another scene, a woman was visibly drunk and trying to get into her car with two young kids.  A group of people who were strangers to each other intervened and one of the men took her keys away.  It showed how sometimes it just takes one person to step up to the plate to get others involved.  

There are risks involved whether big or small when you choose to intervene in a heated situation.  I think Oprah said it best when she made the comment that it doesn't matter whether if you're American or from a different country. We are all still human beings and deserve to be treated as such. 

 - "It's not hatred that kills people it's indifference."  -  Eli Wiesel