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Shanghaiist was out in the neighborhood of the Nanpu Bridge taking some photos yesterday, and on our way back, we saw a crowd gathering in the parking lot across the street. We thought it was a fight or argument, and were surprised to see two men laying immobile on the ground. Considering the temperature outside we thought it might have been heat stroke, but judging from the fact that there were two men and that they both looked a bit roughed up, it seemed that perhaps there was a traffic accident and that they had collided: One of them had a moped or scooter that was laying on its side. It was only with the arrival of more cops and the cordoning off of the crime scene -- or was it the pool of blood that was seeping out of one man's head -- that we realized that this was more serious than that.
They managed to get one of the men up and into a car, while the other lay there. No one moved him, and the pool of blood continued to get larger. The paramedics showed up a couple of minutes later, and we didn't stick around to see what happened, but bystanders said that this man had jumped from the elevated road that comes off the bridge. As for the other man -- the facts are less clear. Most likely he was driving his scooter down this road when a body fell on the road near him (or on him?), which threw him in a panic and made him lose control of the scooter.
Shanghaiist had to go to the significant other's home for dinner, and when we excitedly regaled the significant other's mother with this story, she said, "What the hell does it have to do with you? Besides, I've seen plenty of suicides during the Cultural Revolution. People burnt to death, drowned to death, hung to death, floating in the river." Upon hearing this we decided to shut up and finish eating our green tea and bean popsicle.
There's some information about female suicide at Peking Duck. We don't know anything more about the guy we saw, but it might be in the nightly news tonight.
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I am drinking some green tea now.
Its apparantly also good for alleviating dry eyes.
I hate it when my wife commits suicide, especially when she hasn't even cooked my dinner yet! (and washed the dishes!)
I hate it when my wife commits suicide, especially when she hasn't even cooked my dinner yet!
that was funny, can you say it again?
The unfortunate part of the story may not actually be the suicide you wrote about, but the fact that the SO's mother was so apathetic due to her lafe's experiences. Sad, but it may give us a peak at why so many are conditioned to mind their own business here.
Who's to say that people weren't like that before the cultural revolution. Which in turn led to people's life experiences during that time.
Hmmm. Note the contradictory reaction: a huge crowd gathers (as at any road accident, fatal stabbing, arrest, spilt-soy sauce on new silk blouse scenario) and yet there is a profession of utter disinterest.
I don't really get it - one of these reactions is just a front for the other. But which one?
Th so-called 'bystander problem' existed long before the Cultural Revoltion. It was the focus of much of Lu Xun's work - who wrote in the 30s - but is quite frequently written off as a by-product of Maoism, which it clearly is not. Read the short story Kong Yi Ji for a good example of this.
Mao preyed on sociological problems which already existed in Chinese society - he didn't create them himself.
Well said, blamegame.
i wwas not there in the initial moments: when i got there, the police were already there, and were attempting to handle the situation, so if there was some kind of "apathy," i certainly couldn't be the judge of it. i don't klnow if this situation really qualifies as part of the bystander problem. Certianly, i felt it odd that they just let the blood seep from his head, without trying to wrap it up or something--and in this case, if you are going to blame someone blame the police and not the bystanders since it was a police problem by then. Of course they could have been waiting for the medics to show up, and not have had any medical expertise themselves.
TW: were you referring to utter disinterest on thhe expressions of people in the picture, or my SO's mother, or myself?
To the usual indifference of the bystanders at these situations, and the professed indifference of your SO's mother. Although not being personally acquainted with your SO's mother, who may well be an excellent person, I can't say whether she would have rushed to the assistance of the lemming on the pavement.
I once saw a photograph of a Qing dynasty Prince being tortured to death by the 'thousand cuts' method. The expressions on the faces of the crowd were similar to the ones you see in crowds watching motorbike accidents today. Nothing changes.