It always amazes me how badly people in general respond to a change in thier environment and in particular how much they simply EXPECT technology to be there for them.

The other day I was at the mall and one of the down escalators stopped moving. A lady and her husband moved onto the escalator and stopped dead. After a count of three they both looked around with a dumb expression while the next few people lined behind them. The husband actually had to tell her to start walking before she figured out the machine was not going to do it for her.

Has anybody ever got that funny fealing when you walk up the steps of a non moving escalator? Your brain expects the damn thing to move. After all, for us youngin's they have always moved.

Humans are an incredibly adaptive creature but their response time sucks and I wonder what they would do if a large amount of the day to day techno widgets stopped working.

-- praxis (fake@oz.com.au), October 11, 1999

Answers

Being a pre-babyboomer my response would be different than those who have never seen just the basics available. One of my last flights in the military was bringing a plane load of medical patients from the Asian area. We had a five hour flight ahead of us from Honolulu to Travis AFB. The pilot told me we would have to cancel the flight and put the patients back in the hospital. I asked why. He said the computer was down and navigation would be difficult to SFO. He acted shocked when I told him to forget the computer and get the aircraft airborne. He had become accustomed to a " gadget" that was nice but not necessary. I fear his attitude is pervasive in most babyboomers.

-- Neil G.Lewis (pnglewis1@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.

praxis:

Be thankful they were not besieged by mall rats.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), October 11, 1999.

People really are like sheep or cattle.They will not make a move untill some one else does.Even if they are in grave danger.IT's like they are unable to make a choice.For instance,a crowd of a hundred people could be standing on the sidewalk when a accident happens right in front of them.Here is how they would react.Twenty of them would not even know anything happened.Forty would change position to get a better view.Thirty five would say some one should call 911.Only five people would go to the victims to render assistance.Five out of a hundred Folks.That is the mindset.Here's a story from my own personal experience.About a year ago me and my wife,Mother and Father in law were at a Train Station in a Small town waiting for the train.There was about thirty other folks also waiting.A car pulled up in the parking lot and a lovely elderly Lady got out.She was dressed very nice,but was having trouble walking.Taking small and carefull steps.The problem was she didnt go into the ticket office but turned and made her way to the first set of Tracks.This is a Big NO NO.A yellow line ran the length of the waiting area which said "DO Not CROSS TRACKS"!! This got my attention and I looked around to see if any AM Trak employees were present.No dice! By this time she was making her way across the second set of tracks ( six sets of tracks in all) by this time most of the people had noticed, all were watching.But no one made a move.Even though I had recently had Spinal surgery,I wasn't going to just sit there.I got up and made my way off the platform and across the tracks (looking carefully both ways,and scared) When I reached her I said something like "Dear,this is a dangerous place to be" She replied that her husband worked there and she was looking for him.I said "BUT my Dear,he wouldnt be out here.Wont you please come back wth me" She allowed me to take her arm and lead her to safety.We had no sooner got back to the waiting platform when a freight train roared through at about eighty miles an hour.It was a hell of a way to start a trip! I guess my point is.Dont expect Any one to help you.I might not always be there.

-- Dan Newsome (BOONSTAR1@webnet.tv), October 12, 1999.

* * * 19991012 Tuesday

praxis:

What's worse is human reaction to the expected. Allow me an anecdotal instance repeated over and over this year:

I'm having one h*ll of a time, as an independent consultant, convincing/selling small businesses that depend on ancient PC's to remediate for Y2K.

Go figure! You're standing there, eyeball-to-eyeball with the proprietor, telling him/her that you can guarantee that their old (DOS) PC's and (DOS-based) software will crap out on, or before, 01/01/2000. All you get in response is that thousand-mile stare.

Not convinced by word, switch to deed: Allow me to back up your system and data, then set the system date to 01/03/2000 and see how things run. The response to this proposition is a look of horror, perhaps knowing what the consequences of the demo are likely to be.

Unable to persuade said proprietor to upgrade, I turn tail out the door.

Abject denial at it's finest to the EXPECTED!

Human nature is unbelievable and inexplicable at times like these.

Regards, Bob Mangus

* * *

-- Robert Mangus (rmangus1@yahoo.com), October 12, 1999.

Ah the human mind and it's disconnective ability in times of crisis/action. Allow me to contribute to the anecdotal side.

While in a grocery store that was undergoing remodeling a scaffold collasped onto an aisle. The worker was hanging from the side of the scaffold by a safty rope but his boot was stuck under a shelf support. Now everybody just stood there and watched the guy struggle to pull himself up back on to the scaffold so he could pull his foot out. He was only about 10 feet off the ground. I kid you not that at least 20 people crowded around the aisle but did nothing.

Now not being to bright sometimes I climbed up the other scaffold that was still standing, stepped across the connecting plank and reached down and grabbed the guys hand. He then could use his other hand to push his foot out and he swung down to the ground. Nothing fancy, just gave the guy the hand he needed.

Nobody was hurt, more embarresed than anything else. Yet nobody was "doing" anything!! They were just watching! Stupid move on my part? Yeah maybe. But I figured doing something was better than doing nothing. The guy thanked me, I got the charcol I came for and went home.

The point? When something out of the ordinary occurs a majority of people will stand there and watch. They don't want to get involved. I guess folks figure that the mysterious "they" will take care of the problem so no reaction or action is necessary on their part. We have been conditioned as a society to not get involved, not to think for ourselves in many instances, let someone else take care of it, etc.

I too wonder what will happen when the gadgets don't respond to our commands.

-- (owner1999@yahoo.com), October 12, 1999.

Praxis,

Know exactly what you mean, it's a weird feeling. There's going to be a lot of stuff like that happening. Ever been in a stairway or a completely sealed enclosure when the power goes out? Very scary. It is so pitch black that you can't see your finger 1" in front of your eye. You get a feeling of vertigo because you have no perception and you literally have to hold onto the walls. Pretty creepy.

-- @ (@@@.@), October 12, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

About ten years ago I was at the scene of an automobile accident. It was at the corner of the busiest intersection in town, where I was at a gas station, fueling up my car. Kitty corner to the station, there was a woman in the left turn lane stopped at the light. A truck making a right turn onto her street had its trailor come unhitched, so that the trailor kept going straight into the waiting car, while the truck continued on its way around the corner.

I would guess that there were at least 100 people closer to the accident than I was. Granted, most of them were in cars, but there was really no way they could have missed seeing what had happened. The noise of the crash was very loud. Even the people who were out of their cars at the gas station just froze in place and didn't do a thing.

I shouted to the man standing next to the phone at the station to call 911. He did so, after acting as if I had snapped him out of a TV-watching fugue. I was the first on the scene, then, where the woman had been trapped in her car by the comressed leg area. I considered picking some little pieces of glass out of her face, but decided that could start some bleeding that we wouldn't be prepared to handle. After convincing myself that the car wasn't about ready to blow up, I decided the most I could do was just hold the lady's hand while we waited for the rescue people.

This is the experience, along with the Loma Prieta earthquake, which got me to call and eventually take several Red Cross courses. I'm not sure I would do anything differently if the same thing happened today, except for perhaps take a pulse, check fingernails for circulation, ask some questions designed to assess her mental state, and co-ordinate some people to detour the traffic.

There were plenty of people present who could have helped in that. But, amazingly, they all just stood or sat there and stared. I don't think it's always been this way. I blame TV.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), October 12, 1999.

Dancr you may have hit the nail on the head. We are spoon fed daily all these scenerios and worse - from TV land. We have become a society of watchers not doers. Definite conditioning.

-- April (Alwzapril@home.com), October 12, 1999.

This is another fine entry in the 'why do some people GI' collection.

I'm always the one preventing injury to others, either by quick reflexes or moving away from developing risky situations.

I agree - 95% will just sit and stare.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), October 12, 1999.

Unexpected situations always seem to unfold, well, unexpectedly.

Last night my car died in what is often the busiest, most congested intersection in town. Put the hazards on, run for the nearest payphone and call 911 for police assistance. I then decide to call triple A. No such luck, membership expired. Then I look in the phone book for a wrecker. No phone books, torn out. Then I run for the Service STation Mart and ask--"There's an emergency, can I please use your phone?" The attendant's back is turned to me. I say again, "There's been an emergency, can I please use your phone BOOK?" No answer still. The asshole simply does not recognize my presence, in spite of two guys behind the counter who stare at me like I'm some kind of a nut (well, they happen to be correct, but I appeared pretty composed).

Then I storm out, pissed off. Wait about 5 minutes for the cop, lots of rubbernecking. The cops's a young fellow, i can see, and he casually calls a wrecker. We chat to pass the time. Surprise surprise. I was expecting a real uptight jerk--the kind who'd break your hand in a handshake just to prove he could kick your behind if he wanted--but we had a good talk about crime and citygov and all that. He was extremely polite and well meaning.

My car is now in service and I walk away with changed perceptions. Some of my "cop-phobia" is gone. On the other hand, my confidence that people will give a damn when you ask them for help--or that certain basic items you need will be there for you.

I suspect the y2k transition will be all surprises. Far more will happen that you DID NOT plan for than DID plan for. Accept that and be forewarned and glad at the same time.

-- coprolith (coprolith@rocketship.com), October 12, 1999.

I can see where some people wouldn't want to get involved in certain crisis situations. We are a nation of sue crazy people, shoot the messenger, etc. Don't get involved, mind your own business, and don't be a witness to anything......I learned the hard way.

-- been there (beenthere@beentheree.xcom), October 12, 1999.

Last year in theater with kids watching Prince of Egypt. Just when the Angel of death is about to arrive, lights go out, strobe comes on. Because of timing it could have been considered a special effect. I figured it was an alarm of some sort- told kids to get up and WALK out to the lobby. Until I spoke no one moved. Then they looked at us and began to walk out of the theater- as if we were somehow in charge.

Turned out to be a glitch while guy working on electric system but you do wonder how long they might have sat waiting for?....

-- EC (JHnck1776@aol.com), October 12, 1999.

I got that lesson back in college. There were about twelve of us chatting in a dorm room, just before the Christmas break. One student was wrapping presents near an open candle flame. The paper flashed on fire, and she just sat there screeming... holding the flaming paper... not letting go. Everyone else was frozen into imobility. I had to crawl over shocked friends, knock the paper out of her hand, then stomp out the fire. No one else moved.

Very wierd lesson in inaction.

Thankfully, Ive always reacted quickly and calmly during a crisis situation. (Falling apart is only optional... afterwards).

;-D

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), October 12, 1999.

I was sitting in a bar once with a friend and there were those little red candle jar jobs all over the place. There was one sitting on a sort of shelf between us and some babes at the next table. Then this bimbo with long straight shiny dark hair leans her head back and the ends of her nice hair went right into the candle. Well, she must have been using cellophane spray or something, because she lit up from the middle of her back to about 6" above the top of her head, as quick as flash powder, I swear. Luckily for her I saw it coming, and with my Superman instincts immediately swatted it out with such a smooth move that she barely noticed. She had felt a slight brush and turned to look at me. I said "your head was on fire" and proceeded to move the candle elsewhere. She smiled, said "oh, thanks", and we all went back to drinking our libations. If it hadn't been for my extrasensory perception and supernatural abilities she would have lit up like Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial and gone home looking like Sinead O'Connor. True story, I swear. I am a hero. You're right though, most people would have just sat and looked at it, because it looks pretty cool, kinda like Gene Simmons at a Kiss concert or something.

-- @ (@@@.@), October 12, 1999.

That does it for me. No more interminable, convoluted polly vs. doomer characteristics analysis.

Doomers are protective..... it's the common trait.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), October 12, 1999.

We were eating in the Chattanooga train depot a few years back, after it became a big restaurant. The sterno ignited the buffet tablecloth, and people sort of sat there watching it. My father-in-law and I got a couple water pitchers and doused it, and went back to our lunch. Don't mess with my lunch, man.

I agree, people can behave oddly when facing the unexpected.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 12, 1999.