What Would You Do?

There is a new(?) show on TV. It is called: What Would You Do? It is on ABC and the host is John Quinones. The premise of the show is what would the average person would do is they came upon something that wasn’t right. Of course, everything is videotaped with hidden cameras.

If you can watch only ONE show during the week, try this one. Some stories are funny, some are scary, some are sad, but, all segments show the true nature of humans – some will cause you to be angry and some will make you tear up a little.

For example, one segment showed a locked car, parked on “Main Street, USA”, summer day and the windows were rolled up. In the car was a life like doll strapped in the car seat, crying. People outside the car could hear the baby crying, some stopped, but most didn’t. Temperature in the car was 120 degrees. After the commercial they came back with the same story, slightly different. A golden retriever was locked in the same car. (There was a battery operated air conditioner in the car for the dog’s safety) and the odd thing was most people stopped. When asked, the people who didn’t stop for the crying baby stated they assumed someone was in the car with the baby, because who would leave a baby in the closed car alone?

Another example: A casting call is held, one-by-one the candidates are given the general premise of the job, “you will be speaking to the camera about the Good Samaritan principle, (they were then told the story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible), the candidates were provided a map instructing them to cross a public park and go to a certain building on the other side to meet the producer of the commercial and off they went.

Along the way they met a grown man sitting on the grass about ten feet from the walkway crying and obviously despondent. How many stopped to ask if he needed help? Only 48% stopped, some offered the use of their cell phone, one man had the man follow him to a coffee shop, told him he had a meeting, gave him $10.00 to get something to eat and said to him, “now I expect some change from that when I get back” and off he went. One woman so distraught over the man’s predicament offered her cell phone, realized she left it in her car, told the man she’d be right back and ran to her car to retrieve the cell phone for him, when she got back to the man she’s squatting down next to him using an inhaler because she has severe asthma.

This show is really done well. They spend time trying to determine why people act the way they do what is the motivator in the situation but more importantly gets you to think what would you do in these situations.