Something distressing in town

The whole scene as you paint it is a surreal symbol of loneliness in the midst of other people.

How depressing. I think that would be enough to make me move house! People around here are so nosy I doubt the case would have been left there more than a few minutes.

Whats to say the others didnt notice,
You didnt "do" anything either

Im not sure what you wanted from them

It would be unwise for them to start re packing it there could have been needles etc in it. The street cleaners have safety gloves and will get to it.

The other week DD and I were stood on a bridge with two other people; a young girl who'd stopped her car and was phoning the police and a man who'd been jogging. A man had been seen on the bridge with a rope round his neck threatening to jump. He'd gone by the time we were there and the police soon arrived. Turned out he did it on a regular basis [but no one would have known that]. But what upset me was that no one else stopped; in fact they made a point of averting their eyes and accelerating [dangerous in that the young girls car was parked on the bridge with it's hazard lights on]. DD said she couldn't have slept [or lived with herself] if she hadn't stopped to see if she could help.

I saw a rucsac a few weeks back. It had obviously been snatched from some poor unfortunate. There was a bit of shopping spilling out. Couple of packs of pasta. It was heartbreaking. Couldn't stop thinking of it for a long time. There are people out there who have no one to care for them, and they become victims.

Sorry I can't spell rucksac for the life of me.

Thank goodness there are people who can feel pity!

It was the time of bombings and the troubles in Ireland. I was in a Protestant cathederal when I saw a case just left in centre. Reported. No one was interested!!!

This post has made me think , how do you report a 'crime' if it's non urgent ? 999 is for emergencies , our police station is only manned for a few hours and even then you've got to phone in via an intercom . Gone are the days when you could pop in to ask the'r advice on things like a found rabbit or can I have a bonfire in my garden type thing ? I need to get up to date on these things .
I would have been concerned about the suitcase too, Grandmama and not sure what to do about it either .

If I saw an " unoccupied " piece of luggage I'd ring the emergency services pronto in case it was a booby trap !!

Slightly different, I saw an old very dishevelled man walk out of the local convenience store clutching a bottle of whiskey. He dropped it, and it smashed , for some reason it really upset me.
I’m sure it wouldn’t have done him any good, but he looked so stricken.

Tiredoldwoman

We have a business, and on occasion have to report a crime, we have to email the information with cctv footage!

On one occasion one of our staff caught someone red handed, and we had to wait about four hours for the police to arrive

Gosh Sara65 , that's scary ! And now theyr'e planning cutbacks on policing ?

Tiredoldwoman

I know! Very worrying isn’t it?

I'm damn sure if I saw a lonely piece of luggage in an airport I wouldn't be feeling sorry !!

I'm very proactive. Have put a drunk off a train when the guard cited H&S and wouldn't do anything. Stopped traffic at a difficult junction as a new bus driver went the wrong way and couldn't turn around. Photographed a robbery and reg plate of car involved then phoned police. They were caught on the A3 >> London.
I don't like to stand and stare.

That's really sad, Grandmama.

Don't feel bad, though. There really wasn't anything you could do, as you didn't know who the owner was.

I agree with Alexa - it's like a metaphor for our times.

I'm not sure why you thought "someone" should have done something, when you didn't do anything yourself. Maybe the others were thinking the same ....and so nobody did anything .

Gabriella-good for you.
I tend to get involved too, DH has caught a shoplifter and helped to pin him down till the police came.
I’m of sure what I would have done in this case.
No one was in danger and I may have needed to be somewhere else. I know I would have got a conversation going.
Don’t know who I would have phoned but the bus driver might have done.

101 is the number for non emergency isn't it?

caught a shoplifter and helped to pin him down

Very noble. Poor sod.

I hate to have to get involved with anything. But I really hope I wouldn't stand by if someone was being hurt. Courage though is probably a fleeting thing when you really need it. Who knows for sure till it happens.

I think I might have replaced the old boy's whisky.