The Forgotten Sense of Duty and Compassion | Essay

"Hey, you people there! Why don't you reach out to someone who is asking for help right in front of you!"

...Perhaps hearing such lines overflowing with human compassion is something that can only be recreated in fiction nowadays.

Sometimes, though it may be imprudent, I feel that there is a part of the people living in this era that lacks the spirit of helping one another. It seems that indifference and coldness dominate the reality of today more than in the days when duty and compassion once dominated the stage.

The changes of the times are progressing dizzyingly moment by moment. Convenience in daily life knows no bounds and is constantly improving. However, on the other hand, it is thought that the richness of heart that people originally possessed is gradually being lost.

At the very least, compared to when I was a child, the difference is obvious even without saying it out loud. I suddenly looked back on this, perhaps due to some causality, because I witnessed a certain scene on my way home from work last week.

As usual, while heading from the station platform to the ticket gate after getting off the commuter train, I saw a woman crouching down small near a pillar. While holding her forehead with one hand, she looked as if she might collapse at any moment if she let her guard down.

However, there was no one around her to care for her. Everyone passing by pretended not to notice and left the scene. To someone who didn't know the circumstances, that scene would surely make them feel outraged, just as mentioned earlier.

But I think those of us who witnessed the scene, including myself, sensed that someone who happened to be there had probably already gone to call for help. As proof of this, just as I started to climb the stairs leading to the station ticket gate, I saw a station attendant rushing toward her, pushing a portable wheelchair.

In the first place, the station premises are equipped with cameras and monitors everywhere. Even if we, the passengers, do not call for help, the station staff are watching them and are prepared to deal with irregularities at any time.

If this were a generation ago, someone, whether a staff member or a passenger, would have rushed over to help. However, as covered in recent news, cases where people who intended to help others with good intentions end up being arrested as suspects are jumping into our eyes.

In the first place, in today's world, it is an era where serious people and those who work hard end up suffering losses or being made fools of. For the results achieved with determination, most of it goes unrewarded, and people have no choice but to swallow their tears.

The relics born from such triggers have sparked a negative chain reaction, changing the order and rules that were once kept constant in the blink of an eye. It makes me question where the human heart that once resided somewhere has gone.

The end result of that might be exactly the scene I saw at that moment. While I want to help if someone is in trouble, depending on the situation, it could become a serious matter that affects my own reputation.

Moreover, if you try to help a young person or someone of the opposite sex, there is a non-negligible possibility that it will develop into a police matter. If that is the case, I cannot help but think that it is a wiser judgment in this day and age not to take action carelessly.

Prioritize the crisis of others, or prioritize self-preservation? Why must I harbor such intense conflict as these two choices, which would not have been chosen in a more prosperous era, emerge?

Even if you want to help, it is difficult to do so.

It is not just in events like the one I witnessed this time; easy assistance often leads to unexpected misfortune. Because so many people have intervened along the way, I feel that the hurdles have become much higher than they used to be.

And perhaps the reason why reality has become harder to live in now than in the past is, at the very least, because we have unknowingly left behind the sense of obligation and humanity that we once maintained.