What's the Matter Here?

If you've been paying attention to the news, then you must have heard about the woman who was killed and her 8 month old fetus cut from her body. If not, you can find the story here.

The whole thing is appalling, of course, but this is the tidbit that caught my eye:
"'We used to hear her crying and screaming but no one ever really did anything,' Toledo said, adding that neighbors did not want to get involved (emphasis added)."

What's wrong with people? Time and time and time again you hear tragic stories that might have been prevented had people gotten involved. Granted this woman wasn't killed by her ex-boyfriend, but had her neighbors done the right thing to begin with and called the police then maybe, just maybe, she might be alive today. Cowards.

I spend a lot of time watching our neighbors. Ida says I'm like the nosey neighbor on "Bewitched." I want to know what they're up to so that if something out of the ordinary happens, I'll know it's out of the ordinary and can take action either for our or their own good. I don't police my neighbors but if I saw two men trying to break into a house (even if one was a Harvard professor), I'd call the cops; if I heard a woman scream, I'd call the cops; if I knew or suspected a child was being abused, I'd call the cops; if someone was abusing their pets, that's right, I'd call the cops. I'm going to get involved by getting the police involved.

It's not as though I want to get involved; in fact, I prefer to be left alone by my neighbors. I'm nice and polite and talk to them if they talk to me, but I don't go out of my way to make conversation or befriend them. Still, I watch out for them because it's the right thing to do on every level. This world isn't about me or you or them; it's about us, and if we aren't willing to risk intervening when someone or something is in danger, then we're as worthless as the person(s) who killed that woman.

I love the lyrics from the 10,000 Maniacs' song "What's the Matter Here?" and this refrain sort of sums up how I feel:

I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses,
He's their kid I stay out of it,
But who gave you the right to do this?