I should premise by saying that I know violence is everywhere. It strikes in places of war, places of unrest, places where opportunity for betterment lacks. With that said, I can't shake the waves of anger I feel at the injustice of it all when witnessing acts of violence.

There have been many occasions in Beijing where I've witnessed people fighting in public with hordes of witnesses surrounding the altercation, simply watching what was going on without interfering. I'm a practical person - I don't think it is ever smart to get into the middle of a fight. However, I do also believe there are basic things that can be done to help stop public fighting. I also don't think that the "Bystander Effect" is something that happens exclusively in China. (It's that odd thing that happens when crowds of people witness but don't interfere with people who need help in public situations.) It happens everywhere in all sorts of social dynamics.

Something that happened in Shanghai the other day really stuck with me. My husband, myself and our aunt were heading back to People's Square to have a rest at the hotel. On the way to finding our exit in People's Square station, I noticed two men holding a third man between them and leading him to an exit rather roughly. As I watched this, I noticed that they promptly began to beat the third man they were leading outside right outside the window of a crowded McDonalds. I was shocked. Those kinds of things don't normally happen in crowded areas, much less in front of a window where dozens of people were having lunch.

What happened? Well, nothing for a while. People literally looked at what was going on while eating their food, while walking by the very exit where this man was being beaten into the ground. Luckily, those of us still in the station had the good sense to call some guards to the scene. It's something that I haven't seen happen often in China - people involving themselves to help someone else. (Again, China is not the only place where this happens.). The thing that got to me, however, was how nonchalant the guards were. They knew someone was being beaten up, they saw it with their own eyes, yet they walked towards the altercation as if they were having a nice stroll in the park. No amount of my calling out in Chinese, "Please, hurry!" could get them to make it to the scene in time.

Hence, the two men got all of the punches and kicks in that they wanted and managed to get away in time, leaving the third man cowering on the steps.

For me, it's not that this happened in China; it's not that the guards took too long to get to the man's aid. It's the sheer fact that there are still people out there who are not scared to be that violent in such a public way. I hate violence and injustice in every form. It is something that will unfortunately always exist in some form or another in our world.

Violence, in the end, benefits no one, not even the aggressor.