Silence is gold… is that so?
Two days ago I was sitting on the tram in the early morning hours on the way to work. A casual thing I’ve done many times before. But that morning was different. Out of the sudden, about five or six Austrian schoolboy, maybe 10 or 12 years old, showed up and surrounded two foreign boys, who where sitting close to me. One of the Austrian boys started yelling at the two foreigners for being refugees in Austria, using the worst language I’ve ever heard from a boy at such a young age. He would not only insult the boy, but also the entire family.
This would go for about two or three minutes, getting worse every time that boy would open his mouth, until to a point, where I had to get up, walk to the Austrian boy and ask him if there was a problem with those two kids. I must have taken him by surprise, because he wouldn’t even respond. I continued to ask him if they had ever done anything to him, to which he would also (SURPRISE) not respond. While I had the (very rare for me) urge to just punch him in the face, I left him with the words, “leave them alone” and walked back to my seat. Fortunately he would not continue his hate triads for the time I was on the tram.
But the most shocking aspect for me is that I wasn’t the only grown up on the tram, there where about five to six other adults who could have gotten up from their seats and could have stopped that boy.
We are all so busy with our lives that we completely forget that sometimes, someone might need our help. To remain silent and ignore ongoing injustice is flat out wrong. Incidence like the one I witnessed two days ago happen around the world day in and day out. I don’t think it is necessary to try and handle a gun fight, but sometimes we do have the power and the obligation to protect those who need our help.Be a snowflake and become part of an avalanche to make the world a better place!
This would go for about two or three minutes, getting worse every time that boy would open his mouth, until to a point, where I had to get up, walk to the Austrian boy and ask him if there was a problem with those two kids. I must have taken him by surprise, because he wouldn’t even respond. I continued to ask him if they had ever done anything to him, to which he would also (SURPRISE) not respond. While I had the (very rare for me) urge to just punch him in the face, I left him with the words, “leave them alone” and walked back to my seat. Fortunately he would not continue his hate triads for the time I was on the tram.
But the most shocking aspect for me is that I wasn’t the only grown up on the tram, there where about five to six other adults who could have gotten up from their seats and could have stopped that boy.
We are all so busy with our lives that we completely forget that sometimes, someone might need our help. To remain silent and ignore ongoing injustice is flat out wrong. Incidence like the one I witnessed two days ago happen around the world day in and day out. I don’t think it is necessary to try and handle a gun fight, but sometimes we do have the power and the obligation to protect those who need our help.Be a snowflake and become part of an avalanche to make the world a better place!
posted by giovanniaureel at 3/12/2005
3 Comments:
I wonder how come nobody actually replied to your post.
Anyway, well done!
If I were to be in the same situation, I doubt that I will do the same just as you did, but after reading your post, I know exactly what to do next time in a similar predicament.
God bless you.
Hello,
Thank you for standing up for these two boys. I am myself a foreigner in the country where I'm living right now, and even though I have never seen such anti-foreigner attitude from anyone, I still feel very much lost and bestranged at times. It must feel terrible to be in the situation these two boys were in, and they must have felt tremendously better to know that not everyone thinks about them the way that other boy did. Indeed, very well done! And yes, I agree that no matter how tightly we are wrapped in our own busy life, we should still give a minute to care about the life that is going on out there, and speak up to make the world a better place to live in. We all need such little reminder now and then. Thanks for the reminder! And may you be blessed.
I am an Chinese,been here search for an composition,in university.After I read your story,I support you.I thank you !
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