Well don’t go around tonight . . .
[I]t’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise.
What did subway riders learn from Penny’s travail? In New York City, it’s better to do nothing than intervene to protect someone from violence.
Veteran New Yorkers may dismiss this latest tragedy as an isolated event. After all, millions of people ride the NYC subways each week, and only one person has been burned to death.Â
Of course, they’re right. Nevertheless, I wonder whether city authorities are doing enough to keep New Yorkers safe.
I rode the Paris subways a couple of years ago and was surprised to see that the subway stations had transparent barriers that protected Parisians from falling or being pushed onto the train tracks.
And wouldn’t it be wiser for the New York District Attorney’s Office to praise people like Daniel Penny for stepping up to protect others from violence rather than spending public money to put these Good Samaritans in prison?
Of course, I speak from the perspective of a guy who lives in rural Mississippi next to a lake infested by alligators and invasive Asian carp. What do I know about life in urban America?Â
Urban Americans should consider the possibility that life in Flyover Country may be better than life in the inner cities–even though we don’t live within walking distance of MOMA or a good Korean barbecue restaurant.
One thing for certain. If someone set a woman on fire in Claiborne County, Mississippi, there would be no bystanders. Someone would smother the flames with a camouflage jacket, and someone with a gun would shoot the son of a bitch who set the blaze.
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| Photo credit: Associated Press |
