Garth Rattray | In the right place at the right time

We are becoming accustomed to hearing the phrase “they were in the wrong place at the wrong time”. This is usually followed by unpleasant anecdotes of innocent people being accidentally swooped up in a police operation or people being injured or killed by a traffic crash or criminal activities. We never stop to consider that sometimes we may be in the right place at the right time to do something positive for the good of others and for our country.

What you do does not have to be something magnanimous, heroic, daring, or self-sacrificial … it may be something very simple, but it could be impactful. Once, while inflating all four tyres on my car, a bicyclist approached the air pump. I stopped and invited him to pump up his tyres because I had more tyres to pump than he did. He was obviously unaccustomed to anyone using common sense and being courteous to him. He was transfixed for a second or two and then he said, “You are a real Jamaican”. I understood him to mean that the ragamuffins and disrespectful people on the street nowadays do not represent what a Jamaican use to be like. He explained that my simple action restored his faith in people.

We are all Jamaicans.

I’ve seen youth about to fight with stones in the street and stopped to remind them that we are all brothers and sisters … we are all Jamaicans. It’s not that I placed myself in harm’s way. I stopped at a place where I was not directly in the ‘line of fire’. On that particular occasion, my words found their mark and the potential combatants went their separate ways.

Many of us can prevent or even stop violence. There are far more of us than there are of them. If you hear loud quarrelling rising to a crescendo, you know that violence is imminent. Interject words to deescalate the situation. Be a peacemaker. Say something to calm tempers and turn away anger. Recruit others nearby to join in to defuse the situation. Offer to mediate if you can. People are so stressed out, so much on the edge that it does not take much to ignite extreme violence. They will become enraged and even kill because someone owed them one hundred dollars and did not repay them.

If you know of parents or anyone else abusing children verbally and/or physically, consider yourself in the right place at the right time. Say something to the authorities. Abusing children is horrible and abused children are being set up to become abusers in the future. Help break the cycle of violence in our society, do something … don’t just be a silent witness to the genesis of disaster.

The same applies to domestic violence. I grew up hearing that nobody should interfere in “man and woman business”. Perhaps it is because the abused individual sometimes declines to press charges and even recants statements already made to the police. However, sometimes domestic conflicts, especially the kind sparked by romantic disappointment, ends in murder, multiple murders, or murder-suicide. Usually, when being interviewed by the media after a crime has been committed, neighbours, family members, and friends relate how things were going badly in the relationship and that threats were made … those people were in the right place at the right time, but they did not meaningfully intervene in any way.

SELLING JUICES

Recently, I was purchasing drinking water when a young man approached me in the parking lot. He was dishevelled and pushing a container with homemade juices. I told him that I did not want to buy any, and obviously frustrated, he asked, “Wah mek?” I pointed to my ample midline. He then entered the business establishment but soon came back out scowling. I was feeling sorry for him. When I went inside, I offered to buy $500 worth of juices for the staff. However, they said that they didn’t want any of his juices.

On inquiry, they explained that his reaction to being turned down was rude. When I returned outside, I approached him and asked, “Wah happen to yuh boss?” By this time, he was sitting on the concrete and looking forlorn. I realised that many young men his age were in criminal gangs, toting firearms, and murdering people. I donated the $500. He explained that he felt “a way” when the staff rebuffed him. I explained that next time anyone rebuffed him, he should simply say “Ok then” or “Thanks anyway” and leave. He and I got talking, and we realised that we were from similar underprivileged beginnings and from nearby communities. I took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and did my best to positively influence a very vulnerable youth. We parted ways laughing and joking.

We tend to focus on sins of commission, but the sins of omission can be more serious. We have a moral (ethical) duty to act to try to prevent or solve problems whenever we are aware of them. Sometimes that obligation is not only moral, it can also be a legal obligation (as in the instances of child abuse).

While in our home environment, at school, or the workplace, on the streets or public transport, when in the right place at the right time, do something, anything to make things better for our country.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.