Do People Care Anynore?

My wife and I live in an inner city setting. Compared to where I grew up, its pretty darn nice. We own a historic, 3 story, brick home. We enjoy being close to the riverfront, fine dining, other big cities, theaters and museums. I personally like the sounds and cultural diversity that you can find in the city. The city, along with all of its benefits, has baggage. Big cities are typically overcrowded, have stereotypically "bad" sections, crime, and major politics. My wife is from suburbia. She's more used to a quiet, non-intimidating existence. I'm from the inner city. I'm used to a rough and tumble, "do for self," "who you staring at," existence. Quite a paradox huh? Fearlessness is one of my flaws. Very little frightens me. I have seen all types of violence and experienced violence myself. In 1991, I was shot 3 times. Last night, I was sitting on the living room floor reading, and my wife was sitting on the sofa playing Jewel Quest on her laptop, when we heard a woman's frantic screams. I jumped up instinctively, ran downstairs and outside barefoot, where I encountered a young white male chocking a woman. He stopped as I ran toward him yelling, "Hey man! What the Hell are you doing!?!?!" The woman ran into my arms and said, "Please help me sir. He's my son. He's high on drugs and he attacked me. Please call the police." My wife, called the police. I tried to talk to her son, but he ran off. My wife and I sat just inside of our front door consoling the sobbing woman. I guess she was blessed to be in the care of a minister and a physician. She explained to us that her son was a good man, when he wasn't under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and she thanked me for coming so quickly to her aid. I fully understand how drugs and alcohol bring out latent behaviors that can make the kindest people act in ways they never thought possible. Eventually the police came, and we saw the lady off safely.

When we went back inside, I said to my wife, "No one else in the neighborhood even came outside. Do people even care anymore?" I understand that times have changed and being a "good Samaritan" can be dangerous today, but it feels more and more that people just don't care anymore.

Have you had similar experiences? Have you driven by someone broken down on the side of the road lately, thought about helping them, and then just decided to keep on going? I have. It seems that we are losing community, in a traditional sense... and I am just not sure of what this means for us as a people... as human beings.