Stopped at the lights at the top of the freeway exit ramp today I observed a lone figure resting against a light pole. Nothing unusual about this at all. After all, it was mid afternoon in the suburbs.
Movement drew my eye back to this figure. He had reached inside his jacket and had pulled something out.
Was he about to throw something over the bridge at the oncoming traffic?
Something brown – he looked around and raised his arm to his face….and swigged, placing the bottle back inside his jacket, concealing it again. Then he leant over the bridge railing and seemed to be intent on the traffic.
My stomach leapt and an internal dialogue began. The options were for me to personally intervene by leaving the car and going up to him, phone 000 or take a short detour into the local police station which was very close by or to do nothing at all.
I chose to detour to the police station and prefaced my report to the young constable by saying “It may be nothing but…..”
She took my name and phone number and the details of his location and dashed out. A police car was on its way before I could get into my own car and I went on my way.
I don’t know whether I was right or wrong, I haven’t had any feedback and hope that the guy is OK.
So from my point of view, & it’s my value judgement; standing on a bridge over a freeway on a busy main road and drinking mid-afternoon from a bottle in a brown paper bag indicates that there is a problem that needs to be sorted. I hope the cops were able to help him out.