Someone (Else) Should Do Something About That!

You’re walking down a hospital corridor and the woman ahead of you spills some coffee on the polished floor as she meanders unsteadily along. You glance down as you walk past it and think: ‘That’s an accident waiting to happen, someone should really do something about that.’

The street light in your neighbourhood has stopped working. A few other residents have talked about it and complained as they cross each others path – in the pitch black. As each night passes you look angrily out at the darkness and the potential dangers it brings. You think: ‘The council are just useless, someone should really do something about this!’

It’s a common theme. What is even commoner about it is the hidden message within the theme: ‘Someone else should do something about this.’ We complain and moan and look for someone else to sort out a problem. It’s never our responsibility. Why should we bend down and swiftly wipe our tissue on the floor and avert a hospital incident – isn’t that the cleaners job? Why should we ring the council and report that a street light isn’t working, why doesn’t one of the other residents do it?

I had direct experience of the light scenario. The street lamp opposite our house stopped working. The neighbours mentioned it and moaned about it but didn’t want to do anything about it. Tired of waiting and wondering how the problem would be fixed, I telephoned the council. I reported that the light wasn’t working and they came out and fixed it later that same day. The other neighbours must think it miraculously began working again as I didn’t report to them my little phone call (rather long phone call actually, having been passed around a bit and held on the line.) How long would we have been in darkness if everyone continued to think that someone else should have been doing something?

These small things are a microcosm for the larger issues of life. Environmental concerns, local community issues, homeless people, prisoners of conscience, etc. If we are always looking to someone else to take action then we really cannot complain about the state of things. I’m not meaning to blow my own trumpet in the “street lamp fiasco” as there are many times when I too have neglected to act and waited for others to do things, when I have also felt apathetic and wondered if what I could do really makes a difference.

For now, though, each time I hear myself thinking: ‘Someone should do something about that,’ I make myself wonder if that someone is me.

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