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Readers Comment On Our Take On Bravery And Recklessness.

March 24, 2009

We have received a lot comments from our readers on our article about mixing recklessness with bravery that we include further down below.John thinks that we were absolutely right in stressing that the driver of the double-decker bus in London was wrong in resisting the two thugs with knives who demanded his cash box. He writes: ‘The driver is first of all responsible for the safety of his passengers. The cash in his box was probably insured anyway. What was the point of getting into a fight and crashing the bus? He got his priorities wrong.’

CDP says: ‘I agree that it is reckless to endanger others in these situations. The bus driver should have just given the money. But at some point you have to stand up for yourself. If criminals are willing to walk up to you with a gun and demand money, who is to say they will not kill you at any moment. Wait for an opportunity and fight back. That will send a message.’

Tony says that he would never hand over his money without a fight. ‘I am not going to allow some scum to just walk away with cash and blow it on booze or drugs. I would rather give them a hard time.’

Don hold a similar view: ‘I politely disagree. I hope we have not sunk to the state where a thug can just ask for my goods or life and be freely given that.’

Still, many more of our readers have supported our idea that it is not sensible to risk your life and the lives of others for any amounts of cash. Especially if the people, who confront you, are armed. Imagine, dying or getting seriously hurt while fighting for the contents of your wallet or purse. Is it really worth it? But we have also pointed out in our article that we in no way suggest that people should not help others. If a woman or a child or an old person are viciously attacked, we say: Go for it! Make as much noise as possible, distract the attention of the attackers and even try to bring them down. We never implied that people should not help others who are in danger.

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Here is the article that attracted all the comments:
Stupidity Watch: We Single Out A London Bus Driver For His Recklessness

Thomas Mathew writes: Today we are singling out the recklessness of one London bus driver, who risked the lives of several dozen of his passengers, just because he decided to be a ‘hero’.

The incident happened several days ago, late in the evening, on one of the routes in South London that is gradually turning into a war zone. As the red double-decker pulled away from a bus stop two thugs with knives approached the driver and demanded that he gives them the contents of his cash box. Considering that most passengers these days use travel cards and only a handful of people pay cash, we can safely assume that there was probably not much money in the box. But the driver of the double-decker, travelling at high speed, decided to put up a fight and save his company around twenty or thirty quid that he had collected from the passengers. A struggle ensued and as a result the double-decker swerved out of control, went through a red light, got into a path of another vehicle and then smashed into a newsagents.
The two attackers then fled through the front door of the bus, wisely opened by the driver. It was by pure luck that none of the 27 passengers plus the woman in a car that had been hit by the bus were seriously hurt or killed.

The question is this: why did the driver not give the attackers with knifes the cash box? Was it really worth it risking people’s lives to save a few pounds? And even if there was a grand there or more, would it not have been wiser to part with it?

There is a big difference between bravery and recklessness. The moment people endanger the lives of others by their actions unnecessarily the move into a different territory all together. If someone is confronted by armed criminals demanding money he or she should give them the money. It is as simple as that. No amount of money is worth a human life. When I hear stories about have-a-go-heroes trying fight off attackers carrying knives or guns, who demand their wallets or handbags or mobiles, and ending up in hospital or dead, I wonder what could have driven them. And it makes me very angry when I read stupid accounts of these incidents in newspapers that praise the ‘bravery’ of people who got injured or lost their lives for nothing. Is there no end to some journalists’ stupidity?

Several months ago an 84-year old pensioner foiled an attempted raid on a jewellery store in London by two thugs wearing balaclavas. As they were trying to smash the shop window with their sledgehammers the pensioner walked up to one of them, pulled off his balaclava and stood there, waiting for the criminals to flee. Which they did, luckily for the old man and the passers-by.
The national newspapers made a huge story out of it the next day, praising the old man for his supposed ‘courage’ and ridiculing the ‘cowardice’ of some 50 people who were watching the whole incident from a distance. It was remarkable how some of the hacks even went as far as suggesting that people should have helped the old man to apprehend the robbers.

What he did was reckless. It was not like he dashed to save someone vulnerable, like a child or a woman, from an attack. He had interfered with a robbery, carried out by two violent criminals, who could have killed him on the spot, and then vent out their anger on other people. Was it really worth it, especially as the contents of jewellery shops are always insured so the owners would have got their money back anyway?

It is never a good idea to act recklessly and endanger yourself and others. And it is even worse to confuse recklessness with bravery and encourage others to become have-a-go heroes for nothing.

– End –

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