Comments on: Inspiration: Philip Zimbardo & The Heroic Imagination http://blog.christinewongyap.com/2007/04/24/inspiration-philip-zimbardo-the-heroic-imagination/ On Be(com)ing an Artist, Citizen and Arts Community member, by Christine Wong Yap Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:16:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: cwongyap http://blog.christinewongyap.com/2007/04/24/inspiration-philip-zimbardo-the-heroic-imagination/#comment-2 cwongyap Fri, 04 May 2007 05:16:00 +0000 http://cwongyap.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/inspiration-philip-zimbardo-the-heroic-imagination/#comment-2 10 days later. 8:30 pm. Walking down Van Ness, a busy thoroughfare in San Francisco. Across the street, man at a woman are arguing. He's agitated; she's backed into the vestibule of a closed store (Dick Blick/The Art Store). This goes on for a few minutes. Then he hits her. She screams, crumples. Doesn't fight back or run. I yell, hoping that the awareness of a witness will stop the attacker. It doesn't. He continues to yell and physically intimidate the woman. Without hesitation, my partner calmly walks across the street, coming to the woman's aid. He becomes a wall, a shelter behind which the woman can hide, until the man sees his decision: to hit someone his own size, or to walk away. The man and woman leave in opposite directions. This whole time, I do my best to help an emergency dispatcher get police to the scene, but they were nowhere to be seen. Drivers, pedestrians, employees in the store--no one else bothered to get involved. Do you have your friends' backs? Do your friends have yours? What happens when they're not around? Instead of 'having each others' backs,' how about just doing the right thing? 10 days later. 8:30 pm. Walking down Van Ness, a busy thoroughfare in San Francisco. Across the street, man at a woman are arguing. He’s agitated; she’s backed into the vestibule of a closed store (Dick Blick/The Art Store). This goes on for a few minutes. Then he hits her. She screams, crumples. Doesn’t fight back or run. I yell, hoping that the awareness of a witness will stop the attacker. It doesn’t. He continues to yell and physically intimidate the woman. Without hesitation, my partner calmly walks across the street, coming to the woman’s aid. He becomes a wall, a shelter behind which the woman can hide, until the man sees his decision: to hit someone his own size, or to walk away. The man and woman leave in opposite directions. This whole time, I do my best to help an emergency dispatcher get police to the scene, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Drivers, pedestrians, employees in the store–no one else bothered to get involved.

Do you have your friends’ backs? Do your friends have yours? What happens when they’re not around?

Instead of ‘having each others’ backs,’ how about just doing the right thing?

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