Frozen in Indifference

Discussion in 'World Events' started by Orleander, Jan 31, 2009.

  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    last year an elderly woman froze to death, this year a 93 year old WWII vet froze, and now it took them days to care enough about this.
    In tough times is it every man for himself and who cares about the poor.
    Michigan is pathetic.

    Frozen in indifference: Life goes on around body found in vacant warehouse

    DETROIT -- This city has not always been a gentle place, but a series of events over the past few, frigid days causes one to wonder how cold the collective heart has grown.

    It starts with a phone call made by a man who said his friend found a dead body in the elevator shaft of an abandoned building on the city's west side.

    "He's encased in ice, except his legs, which are sticking out like Popsicle sticks," the caller phoned to tell this reporter.

    "Why didn't your friend call the police?"

    "He was trespassing and didn't want to get in trouble," the caller replied. As it happens, the caller's friend is an urban explorer who gets thrills rummaging through and photographing the ruins of Detroit. It turns out that this explorer last week was playing hockey with a group of other explorers on the frozen waters that had collected in the basement of the building. None of the men called the police, the explorer said. They, in fact, continued their hockey game.

    Before calling the police, this reporter went to check on the tip, skeptical of a hoax. Sure enough, in the well of the cargo elevator, two feet jutted out above the ice. Closer inspection revealed that the rest of the body was encased in 2-3 feet of ice, the body prostrate, suspended into the ice like a porpoising walrus....

    ....A colony of homeless men live in the warehouse. Wednesday morning a few fires were burning inside oil drums. Scott Ruben, 38, huddled under filthy blankets not 20 paces from the elevator shaft.

    "Yeah, I seen him," Ruben said. The snow outside howled. The heat from the can warped the landscape of rotting buildings and razor wire.

    Did he know who the dead person was?

    "I don't recognize him from his shoes."

    Did he call the police?

    "No, I figured someone else did," he said.

    "There's lots of people coming through here with cameras and cell phones. I don't got no phone. I don't got no quarter. Things is tight around here."

    His shack mate, Kenneth Williams, 47, returned at that point with an armload of wood.

    "Yeah, he's been down there since last month at least."

    He was asked if he called the police.

    "No, I thought it was a dummy myself," he said unconvincingly. Besides, Williams said, there were more pressing issues like keeping warm and finding something to eat.

    "You got a couple bucks?" he asked.
    Waiting for a response

    There are at least 19,000 homeless people in Detroit, by some estimates. Put another way, more than 1 in 50 people here are homeless.

    The human problem is so bad, and the beds so few, that some shelters in the city provide only a chair. The chair is yours as long as you sit in it. Once you leave, the chair is reassigned.

    Thousands of down-on-their-luck adults do nothing more with their day than clutch onto a chair. This passes for normal in some quarters of the city.

    "I hate that musical chair game," Ruben said. He said he'd rather live next to a corpse.

    Convinced that it was indeed a body, this reporter made a discreet call to a police officer.

    "Aw, just give 911 a call," the cop said. "We'll be called eventually."

    A call was placed to 911. A woman answered. She was told it was a reporter calling. The operator tried to follow, but seemed confused. "Where is this building?"

    She promised to contact the appropriate authorities.

    Twenty minutes or so went by when 911 called the newsroom. This time it was a man.

    "Where's this building?"

    It was explained to him, as was the elevator shaft and the tomb of ice.

    "Bring a jack-hammer," this reporter suggested.

    "That's what we do," he said.

    Nearly 24 hours went by. The elevator shaft was still a gaping wound. There was no crime scene tape. The homeless continued to burn their fires. City schoolchildren still do not have the necessary books to learn. The train station continues to crumble. Too many homicides still go unsolved.

    After another two calls to 911 on Wednesday afternoon (one of which was disconnected), the Detroit Fire Department called and agreed to meet nearby.

    Capt. Emma McDonald was on the scene.

    "Every time I think I've seen it all, I see this," she said.

    And with that they went about the work of recovering a person who might otherwise be waiting for the warm winds of spring.

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  3. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    this is so depressing.
     
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  5. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Michigan has the highest unemployment in the US. And its getting worse, not better.
    I'm appalled that the police were called and they told them to call 911. WTF!? Finally the fire dept had to be called.
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Seriously, there was no emergency, and they did get there eventually.
     
  8. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    So if a family member gets killed, no hurry to get to it. Once they are dead, there is no emergency.
     
  9. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Not for the ambulance anyway..
    The police should still be hurrying though.
     
  10. desi Valued Senior Member

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    The body was on ice. Its not like it was going anywhere or there was any hope of saving the life. If there were fires to put out or crimes for the cops to solve maybe the delay was warranted.
     
  11. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    This is a crime to solve.
     
  12. swivel Sci-Fi Author Valued Senior Member

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    If she sees "This" every time she thinks she has seen it all, doesn't seeing "This" again just confirm her suspicions?
     
  13. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    He wasn't just killed. Frozen in a puddle, there is obviously no immediate concern, especially as a homeless person who is likely an alcoholic or drug user anyway, they must find them dead all the time.
     
  14. StrawDog disseminated primatemaia Valued Senior Member

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    Overtones of Michael Moore`s "Sicko".

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  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    wow, I guess I see a person, not garbage.

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  16. StrawDog disseminated primatemaia Valued Senior Member

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    And these "homeless person who is likely an alcoholic or drug user anyway" are not human or worthy of human dignity?

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  17. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    What is "human dignity" ?
     
  18. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Did I say that? No, only that a half-hour delay in the police arriving for a frozen corpse isn't that bad.
     
  19. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    1/2 hr? It took the police dept 24 hrs, and that was only after the fire dept showed up. The police were called and 911 was called 2x before people finally called the fire dept.
     
  20. StrawDog disseminated primatemaia Valued Senior Member

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    in this instance, respect for the value of human life, ANY human life.
     
  21. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    What is the value of human life ?
     
  22. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    He wasn't a middle-class white guy. I'm not that surprised that you're surprised.
     
  23. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    no one knew that until he was taken out. They didn't even know if it was an adult or a teenager.

    And yeah, I can see some people not caring that is was a poor black guy
     

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