Death in the Neighborhood and Rubberneckers

My twelve year old son just called me on the phone. He wanted to know why his father, sister, neices and nephews wanted to go down the street to see a car accident that killed the driver just a short time before.

He said he didn't understand why people would want to go see death. He stayed home alone while everyone in the house ran out the door to go see and called me to ask why they did that. His heart was broken and he felt very confused.

I don't know either and don't understand it. But we had a very long conversation about empathy and compassion and how different people act differently in situations. He just could not grasp the reason for people wanting to go running off to see a tragedy in person.

What do you think? Is there something wrong with people who stop everything to chase ambulances? Or is there something wrong with people who prefer NOT to see things like that?

What you would have done in a situation like this?

Rubbernecking has also been described as a human trait that is associated with morbid curiosity.[2] It can be the cause of traffic jams (sometimes referred to as "Gaper's blocks"), as drivers slow down to see what happened in a crash. It is also a cause of accidents as drivers become distracted and change their rate of travel while other drivers are also distracted. Rubbernecking has also come to be used more generally to describe voyeuristic interest in someone else's "business" or difficulties.

rubbernecking

Wow, that's really sad.

I know when in the car, everyone slows down because their all rubbernecking, but to rush out of the house with your family to go to the scene of an accident?

Really sad. That's all i can say really.

sounds like they were really rednecking....

I feel for your kid, that's got to be confusing. I think it's just a natural human urge which many people just haven't gotten past.

Think gladiators, public executions, sacrifice ect. You'll find the pattern.

reply to post by Mr Headshot


Thanks for the understanding. He's a good kid and I tried to tell him as best I could how proud I am of his compassionate heart. I hope he gets it and doesn't judge other people for being different. It is confusing for me, I can just imagine if I were a kid.

reply to post by Kram09


Thanks for your comment. Rushing out of the house was over the top in my opinion. And taking the kids with him is sort of strange.

I guess the biggest two things anyone of us will ever experience is when you are born and when you die.
So when these things happen I think it's only natural to be curious about them. It's simply who we are as humans.

Just take a look at all the threads in here dealing with "lifeforms" and "what happens when we die?"

How can you appreciate life if you haven't experienced death?

On a side note: Maybe seeing somebody has died in a car crash will make you lighten the pressure on the gas-pedal for some days/weeks and thus preventing it from happening to you or others

Yeah, tell him staying kindhearted and compassionate, and childlike, is really a good way to live your life. People are just trying to get by and *usually* live a good life. Everybody has flaws.

reply to post by Hazelnut


Oh Boy do I ever not understand this mentality, along with the gossip mongers I really don't! I hate when people stop traffic rubbernecking and I beep my horn insessently just to piss them off and tell them to mind their own business. I have a neighbor like this too, every time the cops come out here or an ambulance she usually runs out of her house and to mine and drags my reluctant butt along...OMG IT just drives me totally bizonkers!!!!! I want to ask her "You writing a morbid book or something?". I am just not that mean however if she ever catches me on a real bad day I might be. It disturbs me deeply this kind of mentality. I don't know what it really is or where it comes from. It most definately is a morbid curiousity though!