Please Stand By

Stand By Me.  The title of a film based off a Stephen King novella, and the title of a huge single by Ben E. King.  In Greek life, college life, and life in general, it is encouraged to stand by one another and support one another in times of need.  Notice that I said "stand by" and not "by-stand".  Though the phrases may sound similar, they are quite different.  If you're reading this blog, chances are you know all about the bystander effect already and have your own examples of times you have, and have not been a bystander.  I encourage you to read mine below and see how they compare.

First, we will start off with a recent example of a moment in my life that I am not proud of.  The time: Thursday, May 12th. The person: a friend who happened to be rushing my Fraternity at the time. The place: 15th ave.  That night, several of us were hanging out and decided to go to the Taco Night featured at 15th and High.  While there, I saw the aforementioned friend stumbling around, very clearly drunk, and yet I did nothing about it.  I did not stop him, I did not walk him home, I did nothing.  I just had the invincibility mindset that nothing bad was going to happen to me or anyone I know, and I was wrong.  I lost track of him in the crowd as I socialized and then on the walk back, I noticed him stumbling out of an alley.  "Hey, there he is!" I say to the other friend I was walking with.  We begin to walk towards him when a car zooms into the alley and two undercover police get out and shine flashlights on him.  We back off, not knowing what was going on, and soon afterwards, he got arrested and taken to jail.  Luckily, he has a lot of close friends looking out for him and he is fine now.  He has learned his lesson and I have learned mine.

Next comes an example of a time in which someone I'm proud to call brother did NOT take part in the bystander effect.  Recently, a group of brothers decided to purchase shirts for the chapter and these shirts had a slogan on the back that would've been less than good for PR, and needless to say, did not represent the values we agreed to in our oath.  When brought up in chapter, no one said anything.  The executive board discussed them soon afterwards and it was made clear that no chapter funds would be going towards these shirts.  Part of the way there, but the shirts were still being made.  They were brought up again in chapter as a reminder for those interested to chip in for them, and my twin, Scott, stepped up and said something.  Though he faced much vocal opposition, he had a lot of support from the brothers he needed it from.  He pointed out what a bad idea the shirts were, and while the slogan was funny, it was not something that our letters should go on.  Now, are the shirts still being made? Yes.  Are brothers that are well known Pikes that will be out representing our organization going to be wearing these shirts? Unfortunately yes.  But luckily, our letters will not be on them, and that is important.  If we lived in a perfect world, the shirts would not have ended up being made, but some people are stubborn and their minds will not be changed.

So, don't be a bystander.  Stand up for what you know is right, and for the way you know things should and can be done.  Make a difference in your life, someone else's life, and the world.  Thanks for reading.

P.S. I hope you all enjoyed the picture above, The Simpsons and puppies have been on my mind this weekend, so why not combine both?