Thursday, July 5, 2012

No Good Deed, Part Two

I'd written a post a couple of months ago about spraining my ankle when heading to volunteer at a soup kitchen.  Pure irony, of course, that I got "punished" for it, unless you believe in divine intervention, but even at that moment, it would've been kind of ridiculous since the soup kitchen is in a church.  

This morning I read a news article which indicates a deliberate instance of someone's being punished for doing a good deed.  A young lifeguard dared to run over and assist in the rescue of a swimmer who was just outside his patrol zone.  The swimmer was ultimately fine, but the lifeguard lost his job because he was perceived to have risked the safety of the people in his own zone.  Two other lifeguards quit in protest of management's decision.

Maybe if our society weren't so punitive and judgmental and litigation oriented, more people would step forward to help others on general principle.  Fear of "Good Samaritan" lawsuits has stopped many people from giving assistance to injured strangers.  Fear of becoming a crime victim has deterred many people from stopping on the side of the road to see whether someone could use a hand changing a tire or calling a tow truck or possibly even an ambulance.

Back to basics would be awfully nice.  This is Pollyanna, signing off.

No comments: