Should I have stepped in?


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So, this past Friday, I was witness to a dilemma that I believe I could have involved myself in but chose not to. Upon leaving the situation, I felt a semblance of regret that I had to share with a friend that night. Anyway, it went down like this. I entered the Harvard University campus center that Friday afternoon and made my way to the restrooms, only to find out that they were “out of service.” A campus security guard stood across from the restroom doors, and I asked him if there were any other restrooms in the building. Fortunately, he said I could find more in the second-floor lounge, but he neglected to tell me that there was only one restroom up there! Anyway, once I got upstairs, I noticed that a few people were waiting for the restroom—no more than three—which seemed fine to me. I then looked for an outlet so I could charge my laptop and phone while I waited for the restroom to be available, but all of a sudden I noticed a group of people assembled outside the restroom. Mind you, this happened within minutes, and it indicated to me that I probably wouldn’t get a chance to use the restroom because I couldn’t stay for long at the campus center because I was killing time until the event I planned to attend started. I didn’t pay much attention to the people waiting, but I overheard Spanish spoken by a Hispanic family, and the father of that family was in the restroom as more people formed a disorganized line for a moment of respite. 

Meanwhile, I did my best to remain focused on the work I was doing on my laptop, but at one point during my wait and amidst the eager group of people waiting for the restroom, a striking contrast in outfits emerged as two young white women entered the picture and stood parallel to the line. One of them was clad in a distressed burgundy t-shirt and both were brunettes that seemed to dim the surroundings. Conversely, the other young woman wore a pristine white shirt that reflected her blank expression as she surveyed the scenery. Additionally, the one in the burgundy t-shirt who I presume was the mother held a baby in her arms, and her friend stood beside her as she asked the mother of the Hispanic family something along the lines of “Is it okay if I skip in line because my baby needs a diaper change?” This caught my attention, and I became fixated on the young woman’s request. Unfortunately, the Hispanic woman was unresponsive, and they were at a standstill as I looked on. Consequently, the mother of the baby didn’t bother to struggle and reach an understanding with the Hispanic woman, so she left with her friend without saying anything, and I believe she looked elsewhere for a restroom. Moreover, once the group of people outside the restroom cleared out, I sat there contemplating the options the mother could have used. For one, she could’ve asked her friend to type her request into a translation app and present their request to one of the daughters of the Hispanic woman. Secondly, since there was a failure in understanding, I think a better approach may have been resorting to some form of sign language to signify that she desperately needed to use the restroom for the sake of her baby. My final thought was that maybe I should’ve intervened with my basic Spanish and helped the mother explain herself better so her baby wouldn’t be carried in a soiled diaper. In hindsight, perhaps the Hispanic woman was either pretending not to understand the mother’s request or didn’t speak English.

In conclusion, I want to ask this question to the readers, so please feel free to give me your answers in the comment section on how you would deal with what I would deem an urgent matter. Firstly, do you think I should have involved myself in this situation? Or do you think I did the right thing by being a bystander and allowing the mother in this story to figure out how to solve the problem independently?

grayscale photo of person using MacBook

3 thoughts on “Should I have stepped in?

  1. If you can intervene and you feel safe enough, I always feel it better to intevrne. Sometimes a simple misunderstanding can be easily resolved and both may remember you if they see you again 😊

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