Qld Floods 2012

Some friends of mine had lunch on Saturday with a mate who spent so much time artfully composing photos of the gathering to post on Facebook they never got to have an actual conversation. It was as if my friends were just attractive extras, hired to play a part in this bloke’s nicely curated published version of his excellent life.

Filming a revolution is ok… Picture: AFP

I’ve also written before about paying hundreds of dollars for a great experience only to miss it because you can’t bring yourself to switch off your iPhone. It’s a modern curse. And in cases like these the greatest danger is your friends will be busy next time you suggest a photo-shoot, neatly disguised as a catch-up.

But what happens when the urge to document an event gets in the way of saving someone’s life? There is a terrible story out of the flood-affected Queensland town of Roma this morning about about a woman who was swept away by raging waters while six brave, still-connected-to-reality men tried desperately to save her.

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  • Brian says:

    12:03pm | 08/02/12

    Kitty Genovese… the case where police were called early by someone who didn’t realise she’d been stabbed, around a dozen people saw or heard something (most of whom didn’t realise someone was seriously injured) and where only one person who did know she was stabbed didn’t call police, and the… Read more »

  • patsy says:

    11:34am | 08/02/12

    @pippa- I just goolgled the Kitty Genovese that Student posted and there were 38 witnesses that could have done something to help after she had been stabbed over a dozen times. This happpend in the ‘60’s. If I saw something like this I would call the police and ambos, because… Read more »

 

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