Yell Fire!
Yesterday I read a post called “10 things rapists look for” and something caught my eye:
“If you’re being attacked, yell: fire!. It’s more likely to get a reaction from people around you if you say this than screaming for help”.
Wait, are we…“there”? Is our society really that cold-hearted that when someone’s in danger, now they also have to think the best way to ask for help? Is that how we get people’s attention? yelling something others find really dangerous for themselves, like a fire? Because, otherwise, it’s way too risky to help? Is that selfish? or maybe it’s just how the human brain works and a common reaction?
By this time I was too shocked to think clearly and could only imagine me flying up to the sky, to see the whole city from up above. Tiny houses, streets getting thinner as I kept rising. And just like a GPS app, thousands of warning pop-ups saying: Fire! Fire! Fire!
Considering my country is in third place on rape statistics and violence against women. Where 76% of victims are underage…fuck yeah, it’s a wildfire. The flames destroy everything around them, leaving nothing but a heavy smoke of rage, injustice, and fear.
I know it’s better to learn the safety advice, even though it makes you sick, but I just can’t help but wonder if we are destined to live surrounded by the blaze, with never healing burn wounds and ashes, like a constant reminder of the places where it all happened.
Footnote: Thanks for your constructive criticism, I'm especially working on verb tenses and vocabulary because English isn't my first language.
“If you’re being attacked, yell: fire!. It’s more likely to get a reaction from people around you if you say this than screaming for help”.
Wait, are we…“there”? Is our society really that cold-hearted that when someone’s in danger, now they also have to think the best way to ask for help? Is that how we get people’s attention? yelling something others find really dangerous for themselves, like a fire? Because, otherwise, it’s way too risky to help? Is that selfish? or maybe it’s just how the human brain works and a common reaction?
By this time I was too shocked to think clearly and could only imagine me flying up to the sky, to see the whole city from up above. Tiny houses, streets getting thinner as I kept rising. And just like a GPS app, thousands of warning pop-ups saying: Fire! Fire! Fire!
Considering my country is in third place on rape statistics and violence against women. Where 76% of victims are underage…fuck yeah, it’s a wildfire. The flames destroy everything around them, leaving nothing but a heavy smoke of rage, injustice, and fear.
I know it’s better to learn the safety advice, even though it makes you sick, but I just can’t help but wonder if we are destined to live surrounded by the blaze, with never healing burn wounds and ashes, like a constant reminder of the places where it all happened.
Footnote: Thanks for your constructive criticism, I'm especially working on verb tenses and vocabulary because English isn't my first language.
A great title and the imagery of the fires on a map showing where violence is really good as is the language to describe our society surrounded by fire.
ResponderEliminarMy suggestions are 1) All of the ?'s in the 1st paragraph weaken the strong emotion and power of the words. The words and ideas are strong, let them be strong with declarative statements. Consider "The best way to get people’s attention is to yell something find really dangerous for themselves. FIRE! and they'll rush to help."
2) I don't think the expletive fuck adds much and this expletives distract readers, I know it distracted me.
The imagery and comparison to a fire was very effective.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment! I totally agree with your first suggestion. About the second one: to be honest, I felt it needed to be there to show my emotions but it's very helpful to know that it might be distracting for some people. Again, thanks for your feedback! :)
EliminarI remember being told this when I was young, so it's definitely not a new concept. Society has been smoldering for a long time, but I think in this age of instant communication we have more clarity n how bad it has gotten.
ResponderEliminarI really liked your image of of the GPS app and warning pop-ups. I agree that all the questions in the paragraph starting "Wait, are we..." sort of diluted the impact for me. Also, a few of those questions didn't get capitalized.
I didn't mind the "fuck yeah." It's ok to be mad about this. We SHOULD be mad about this. Thank you for making your voice heard!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked the GPS image. I also read this advice a few years ago, but my father sent it to our family group on whatsapp the other day and when I read it again, the fire issue got me thinking.
EliminarAnd also congrats on being the crowd's favorite this week!!!! loved your story, I voted for it too:)
EliminarListen to the Freakonomics podcast episode #334 about Kitty Genovese--an insight into the "Bystander Effect."
ResponderEliminarThanks I read a transcript of the episode, I actually didn't know where the advice came from.
EliminarWelcome to YeahWrite, Marisol!
ResponderEliminarYou had some lovely imagery here. The description of you floating above the city and seeing various attacks marked as fires on a GPS App was particularly vivid. Your emotions were also really clear. The many questions you asked early on worked well to show your growing confusion, frustration and anger. In the context of those feelings, using "fuck yeah" worked for me -- it showed your anger and frustration and disgust.
There are some problems with the advice that prompted your concern and this essay.
The premise of yelling "fire" instead of "help" comes from the case of Kitty Genovese who was allegedly murdered by Winston Moseley in 1964 (his involvement was later called into doubt). It's a famous case and often studied in Psychology classrooms (that's where I first encountered it). The New York Times published an article at the time suggesting that there had been a diffusion of responsibility and a "bystander effect" -- that is, that Ms Genovese had cried for help and that 38 witnesses had not intervened to help her because they were either waiting for someone else to act first, or they were reluctant to get involved because they thought it was a quarrel between a husband and wife.
The editor of the NYT in 1964 came up with a strategy for victims of crime and suggested that instead of yelling for help, they yell "fire" so witnesses would feel some sense of personal danger and get involved. This advice was later disputed (if you scroll to the bottom of the links I've included below, you'll see that the original newspaper story, and the reports of 38 witnesses have all been called into doubt). You can read more about Kitty Genovese and her murder at these sites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese
https://www.crime-safety-security.com/kitty-genovese-article-bank.html
Something to keep in mind about the Kitty Genovese case is that it happened in 1964 -- four years before 911 was established as a centralised number to call for emergencies in the US. So if bystanders got involved in crime, they couldn't just ring 911 anonymously, they had to either physically try to stop the crime being committed, or ring their local police and leave all their details.
One of the outcomes of further research into the diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect is that there's no evidence that yelling "fire" instead of "help" will encourage bystanders/witnesses to get involved. But having a central emergency number (911) and easily accessible mobile phones have helped.
I can understand your anger and feelings of helplessness. The good news is that witnesses do get involved more than we think, and that calling for help does work.
Your verb tenses were consistent and your vocabulary was appropriate and well chosen (since you noted that you were especially concerned about those two areas). One thing to watch is that you consistently begin sentences with a capital letter. In the paragraph where you asked several questions, there are a few sentences that don't being with a capital letter. It made me wonder if you had used the ? to indicate emphasis instead of a question.
*that don't begin (not "being") with a capital letter.
EliminarWow, thank you so much for explaining and giving me your opinion about my post. I read the information on the sites you mentioned and now I'm even more confused: why do people still share this kind of advice, when it's been prooved not effective or just wrong. I guess some sites don't even bother checking their sources. Well I didn't before I wrote this, I didn't asked myself where do this advice came from. So it has been really helpful to read you guys and consider a little bit more research before writing this kind of "essay". THANKS!
EliminarI really liked your image of seeing the city from above and the individual "fires." My husband likes to mark the police speed traps on Google Maps. How sad that if we really marked all the rapes it would probably light up the map.
ResponderEliminarI personally do not mind the word "fuck" at all when it's used for emphasis. I use it often myself, lol.
One English language note, "it's" should be "is" in this phrase: "my country it’s in third place..."
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EliminarThanks! I really appreciate your opinion and the grammar note. I'm making the correction right now. Also congrats for being at the top 3 this week!!
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