Drinking coffee.
Nude by Radiohead coming from the corners.
A friend sits across from me and yaps about his shitty job.
A guy in line standing next to my friend drops his phone.
A phone lays on the ground.
Do I pick it up?
The fact that I noticed it first means I should also react first, but there’s a good chance that he will notice his phone is gone and he’ll turn around to grab it himself.
Shouldn’t I pick it up just because helping people is the right thing to do? I mean what kind of person pretends they didn’t see a phone dropped to the ground? Helping others is a proven method to foster social connection, boosts mental and physical health for both parties, and strengthens community bonds. Peter Singer would tell me to pick it up. This is a simple principle to practice civic duty, a chance to represent my family as a well-raised member of society. A strong nation starts with individuals with convictions to help those around them.
Wait.
Since he does have a proximity advantage over me, what if he grabs it before I can get to it and now I look stupid instead? Worse, someone clips me and I look like I was reaching to steal it and I end up on TikTok and my career is destroyed because the internet only cares about perception and everything is taken at face value without context? There’s a reason why this country is fractured. Online spaces are designed to be easy outlets for rage baiting and inflammatory comments, people are always finding excuses to point their fingers at somebody because it’s easier than trying to understand the full picture. In this image world you are as real as how pictures depict you. I will not risk putting myself in danger for someone’s dropped phone, he will get to it. Who doesn’t know when their phone is not on them?
But.
I flew out of my seat like fucking LeBron did to Iguodala, my whole body covered the phone on the ground. I got it. I got it before this random guy could turn around. Don’t play with me, I was an athlete before. I could tell from the corner of my eye that there are some people now looking at me because of how fast I moved. The guy turned around as well, trying to see what the rumbling behind him was all about. He was totally ignorant of the situation. I nonchalantly stood up like fucking Spiderman after dropping in from the sky, gave my hoodie and pants a couple pats for the dust, and held my hand out with his dropped phone on my palm. A sliver of light shines on the phone screen, the reflected dust particles floating above in a spiral motion. He smiled, after he took a second to realize what I just did. He slowly pulled his hand out from his pocket, a switchblade, and sank it straight in my chest. I took another look at the phone, the screen was cracked. Aw damn it.