Cinerant

Cry for Help

I was watching episodes of Everwood last night on DVD (thinking about writing it after I finish my current spec). In one of the episodes, one of the characters had a secret that everyone thought they figured out. When they did, it was as if suddenly the character had made a plea for help and everybody was treating her with more genteel hands than normal. Turns out they were completely wrong about their assumptions, so everyone went back to their normal treatment--and actually it was slightly worse because their opinion of the woman had changed.

For some reason that, coupled with something said at church yesterday, got me thinking--Why do we wait for someone to cry for help before we try and assist them? Usually, a cry for help is a last resort reaction. If somebody is far enough along that he/she asks for assistance, they've probably already exhausted every possible route, reached a point of frustration, started stressing (or spiraling into depression--whichever the case may be), and internalized enough difficulty to start a new ulcer. Maybe that's a bit of an extreme overexaggeration, but maybe not--it just depends on the severity of the problem.

I guess if we can make it easier for somebody when they're going through problems, it's the least we can do, right? But at the same time, I guess that means that we have to get out of our ego-centric orbits long enough to realize they need our help.

Easier said than done.

posted by cinegod @ 8:41 PM