“Everyone should take it, it’s better than Ecstasy”

"Yes, there are downsides.   In no way can it be considered pure, in fact it's contents are highly dodgy and it's use is probably illegal.  But it leaves you feeling just great, about yourself and about everything.  Well it certainly left us in the BIT squad feeling like that, especially after the DWP crew had gone away after that meeting where we persuaded them it was just the thing to persuade unemployed job seekers to take.  We all just sat around the meeting room, giggling like schoolgirls, grinning inanely and giving each other hugs.  Now the word about us and our product is out there, everyone will be queuing up at the door for a sample of what we can provide.  Which is fine, but bring cash, ok" 

The Bystander Effect (2)

AK Haart covered this most fascinating topic several weeks ago.

In the meantime, I got round to running a slightly different version of this experiment, as follows:

The Tube wasn't working one morning because of a fire at a station further down the line, the announcements said it would take at least another hour to sort out. A lot of people were hanging around in front of the station, waiting for a 'bus or a taxi to take them to the nearest over ground train station. A few of them were on the mobile phone asking somebody to come and give them a lift.

I stomped back home and asked Her Indoors whether she could give me a lift to said alternative station (she wasn't at work that day), and I suggested that we swing by the station to offer a lift to some of the waverers outside the Tube station, as a gesture of solidarity if nothing else.

We pulled up in front of the crowd, I wound down the passenger window (actually it's all electric nowadays, isn't it, there's no winding involved) and shouted, as loudly as I dared, that my Mrs was taking me to the other station and that we could take three people with us.

It took several seconds for one woman to respond, another tagged along behind her and they both hopped in, followed by an awkward pause, while our two passengers stared as Her Indoors willing her to drive off and I stared at the crowd, willing one of them to move (it was starting to get embarrassing, but i was determined to take three extra passengers).

What was striking was that the third and final person (also a young woman) to walk up to my window broached the topic thusly: "I heard that you offered them [gesturing to the first two in the back seat] a lift, can you take me as well?"

"Sure thing," I said, "Hop in!" and off we drove.

The point was that I hadn't offered the first two a lift in particular; the third woman wasn't tagging along with the first two but had been invited in her own right. But somehow, because of the circumstances, she identified herself with the other two offerees rather than wishing to relate directly to me and the Mrs as offerors. Or something.