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Watching a woman die on an MBTA escalator
By adamg on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 9:17am
The Globe interviews the person who held that poor woman's hand as she died at State Street station.
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Comments
It's disturbing on at least three levels
(1) the tragic incident itself; (2) the reminder that if we get into a dangerous situation in public, it may be difficult to get help; and (3) as usual, the cut of humanity leaving comments on the story on the Globe's website.
no more knives
Like many of the commenters, I used to carry a swiss army-type knife all the time. But I can't anymore, as I regularly go to government buildings with metal detectors and bag searches. Such is one of the small unintended consequences of our security theater.
keychain pocketknives should be excepted
In my family, each kid was given their first pocketknife at a young age. A pocketknife was just something *everyone* had -- like part of being an American or a capable person. I've probably carried one ever since, and use it on an almost daily basis.
I currently carry a keychain Victorinox Signature, with a teensy blade, scissors, tweezers, nail file, screwdriver, and pen. All in a package about the size of my little finger.
I have to remember to take the Swiss Army knife off the keychain and leave it at home whenever I'll be going into a building with security checkpoint, or I'll lose it.
The small Victorinox keychain Swiss Army knives, like the Signature and the Classic, are very useful for many things, but are lousy as weapons. I just measured the blades, and the edge is approximately 1.25 inches. Besides being short, the blade doesn't lock and the spring is weak, so the metal ruler that I just used for measuring would actually be a better weapon. A key on your key ring would also be a better weapon in most situations.
Now that we've had lots of years to figure out security, we should restore freedoms that in hindsight should not have been taken away in the first place, such as the right to carry a keychain Swiss Army knife.
sad, sad, sad
"In my family, each kid was given their first pocketknife at a young age. A pocketknife was just something *everyone* had -- like part of being an American or a capable person."
I always used to carry a Leatherman, until I got them confiscated out of *checked* baggage a couple times and got sick of replacing them.
The lesson we ought to have taken from 9/11 was that people with truly murderous intent will find a way to destroy, no matter how simple and limited their tools are. Instead, we learned OMG NAIL CLIPPERS ARE SCARY.
Leatherman in checked baggage?
That's not "confiscated"; that's "stolen." :)
my sentiments exactly
I bet your average TSA employee has a nice collection of such items.
Good reason to always carry a knife
Not a one of these folks had a knife on them. Carry a knife; it may save someone's life.
I found it strange
that the globe included the part about one of the guys criminal past who helped the woman? Or the Brookline witness who refused to get involved?
These boston.com articles baffle me more and more every day.
I really "belive half of what I see and none of what I hear" now after seeing what boston.com is putting out these days...
Bad journalism
It seemed to me that they left that in because it seemed like their preferred explanation of why he didn't stick around to make a statement. He had a record, i.e. was a criminal who runs away from police. That he was a caring human who was distraught because he couldn't save a stranger's life? Nah. He had a criminal record, see!
It was needless, petty, and mean. Bad on you, Glob.
Should it be any surprise that cutting the budget makes the journalism worse?
The "criminal record" thing sounds fishy to me.
If the Globe is to be believed, here we have a person that is supposedly so concerned about his criminal record that he doesn't want to talk to the authorities after witnessing a tragic accident.
Yet this same person is willing to not only be interviewed by the Globe, but lets them print both his name and photograph as well.
Something's not quite right in Denmark.
Probably just a Globe mess-up
When I saw the criminal record mention in a skim of the article, my first guess was that maybe they were trying to sprinkle in a little redemption drama into a hero story.
But, way to screw over the guy by exposing his criminal record to future Web searchers who otherwise might not know about it. This is a guy who was frantically trying to save someone, and when other people were not. Was the criminal record really so pertinent, and is the public really better served this way?
I suspect that the Globe simply messed up.
It hurt to read this story.
It hurt to read this story. I wonder, if I were there, could I have stopped it? I usually have nail clippers in my bag, but would it have been enough? Could I have reacted quickly enough?
It's a lot like the Kitty Genovese incident.
pathetic, indeed.
Only it isn't
Because people did try to help her.
Details, details
What is awful here is NOT the behavior of the public -- but the failures of official personnel to respond promptly and effectively (and to make available a working -- and clearly labeled -- cut-off switch).
Escalator emergency-stop button
I haven't looked lately, but isn't there one at the top and bottom of every escalator?
Apparently someone pushed the shut-off button....
...but what is not clear is whether it _worked_ (or worked immediately). I was assuming it didn't -- but perhaps I am drawing the wrong inference from the article.
(So -- in any event -- the problem wasn't a labeling one).
There is 2 stop buttons at
There is 2 stop buttons at the top of that escalator and two at the bottom. They are well marked with yellow stickers....I use this thing everyday and have noticed them several times.
The report indicated all safety devices, including stopswitches, operated properly. Sounds like the switch was not pushed in enough time may be the issue.
Point taken, adamg.
n/t
LJ discussion, plus: would I have done the right thing/
There's a similar discussion going on at b0st0n LiveJournal. I'll repeat here what I said there:
I'd like to think I would have Done The Right Thing in this situation, but I'm not at all sure I would have. I don't carry a cellphone, a knife, a scissors, or even a nail-clipper with me. About the only useful thing I could really do if I'd been there is run upstairs into the City Hall lobby yelling for help.
A few years ago, I encountered a woman stuck at the top of the lower Davis Square escalator. She was standing up and unhurt, but also unable to move because the bottom of her pant leg had become ensared in the escalator steps. Someone had already hit the emergency stop button, and someone else had been sent out for tools, but hadn't yet returned. I offered to just yank the pant leg, she said OK, and I did it. Ripped it to hell, but at least she could get home.
Way to go, Ron!!
Bravo!
Defibrillator
You know, they're starting to put defibrillators at all sorts of stations.
Maybe what they need is a new regulation for escalators: emergency knife. Break glass to get knife.
Worth considering
Maybe EMT scissors.
I understand they will cut through quite a lot. If you can get the scissors under the trapped clothing or item, you can probably cut the victim free without cutting the victim. A variant could be designed with serrations on the side away from the patient, for sawing through an item that can't be cut, for whatever reason.
Besides being (I'm guessing) safer and more effective than a knife in most cases, perhaps EMT scissors would be less likely to be stolen for use as a weapon than a knife would be.
Scissors, period.
EMT scissors--not a bad idea.
Many ways to tear cloth
Not that it would have worked, but any time you can notch something, you can usually tear it.
One handy item most people have available: the edge of a zipper, used like a saw. I used one once to free a hopelessly tangled shoelace from a tandem bike chain (said chain wouldn't move because of the tangle).
Can't say I would have saved anybody here ... but I sure as hell would have tried. My inner lifeguard doesn't let me walk away.