Don't we care anymore?

Can't say I am shocked but it's sad.Atleast knowing he was visually impaired and considering his age his family should have checked on him.It's weird that even friends don't suspect a thing for so long.I am assuming here that he had some friends ,acquaintances or domestic help as it's next to impossible to be all by himself at his age with his health conditions.

that's a sad story. people are getting too wrapped up in things that they forget their old relatives. In the Philippines, i think that's not likely to happen because most grandparents live with grandchildren or their own sons and daughters even if they have their own families. The idea of independence could really eat the society someday.

Your point of not caring anymore is a fungas which started creeping into society many years ago, but has become increasingly more blatant in recent times as the lack of mutual respect dissipates, as highlighted in the confrontations the police face out in the streets these days to 20 years ago! This leading to the "jack system"! "Blow you jack, I'm alright!" As our subject shows!

I saw a photo of the house on CNN, and it does seem to have a pretty long driveway. I mean, it's not as if the houses were really close together and neighbors could just happen to walk by his house and hear the TV. I think a lot of people today fear ending up like this kind of guy. People move around a lot more these days, so family members (if people have them) can be spread out all over the globe. And friends can move, relocate, etc.

i know..we are living in concrete jungles where everyone is living in a constant fear of thier neighbours..suspician and contempt rule today's city psyche..it stinks..you are so right..where the hell has good will and the 'love thy' neighbour' quote gone? it is a sad fact of our times and the urbanisation process post industial revolution has created this anomaly..now that monoculture is taking over the agrarian economies and so many villagers have to migrate into the big cities to survive..so many families are being uprooted and separated which is in effect causing more alienation and mistrust..i think this is a global illness that is seeping through all the nations of the earth via globalisation..so sorry to ramble on..

I saw that on the news the other day. What a shame. We have 2 old ladies on our street, aside from myself and husband, we all on the street check up on them. If we are getting bad weather, I always call and let them know if we lose power or flodd, my husband will be over to get them. We shovel after snow, offer to go to the grocery store etc...If I have not seen either for a few days, I always make sure I give a friendly knock on the door to say hi. So yes to answer your question. I know people have their own lives,but it only takes a few moments to check up on a neighbor.

I can't say I would go out of my way to check on my neighbours but for those who I see around regularly, I would wonder where they had got to if I hadn't seen them for a while. It's horrible to think that some people have no one to care for them. I suppose people assume that everyone has family to look after them and that they will do so but unfortunately it doesn't always happen like that. As I get on well with some of my neighbours, I would probably notice if I hadn't seen them and I would think their children would be there for them and tell us if anything happened. The neighbours on the other side though, we hardly see them as it is so possibly wouldn't notice if they weren't there. I don't think it's a matter of not caring because if we did notice we hadn't seen them then we'd check on them, but it's more the fact that we wouldn't notice.

This type of thing must happen on a frequent basis, albeit to a less significant degree which would keep the incidents from being newsworthy. Many people live alone and do not encounter the neighbours for several days at a time, so it would often be days before anyone would suspect that there was a problem.

This has started happening slowly in India too. Senior pesons don't seem to matter anymore not even to their own children unfortunately. I recently saw figures from a survey, this is India specific that said that a couple of generations ago, the paychack was handed over to the seniormost family member. The generation before mine and my genration tended to share pasrt of the paycheck with parents, today, kids will throw parties for parents, give them gifts, but won't part with the moolah.

Its quite sad isnt it....no more are the days of a mom and pop world...As for my neighbours, we've always made a point of being friendly with our neighbours and if we dont see them for a few days we check in and make sure everything is okay etc...Sadly though, its so not commonplace anymore..ppl have become so damn afraid of each other and/or just dont seem to care, cant be bothered to get involved..its horrible..

Thomas, something like that could never happen in my country. Here families are closely knit and old people are usually taken care of by family, not sent to nursing homes. No one rarely lives alone, rich or poor, as we are used to having extended families. There's always a cousin, an aunt, uncle, distant relative, a neighbor, a maid, a friend nearby who keeps in touch (especially nowadays when cellphones are rampant) will notice your disappearance, especially if you are sick or disabled. Unlike most European culture, we do not practice 'to each his own' although we have our flaws too.

I'm very fortunate to live in a neigborhood where the neighbors all know each other. Our kids play together and if the kids aren't at my house I know they are safe outside someone else's house. If a neighbor of mine was not out of his/her house in a 24 hour period, every person in the area would be knocking on the door.

someone posted this already.. about an old man bein mummified right in his own home in front of his blaring TV..

I read this article yesterday. It amazes me that the guy was there for a year with the TV blaring and no one had complained about it before now. Also, it's amazing that the utilities had not been turned off! If I let my go a few weeks, they disconnect them! This is really weird. I beieve someone was paying that bill. Who could it have been and why didn't they check on him?

that is so crazy. I would hope that someone would know if something happened to me. I actually had a situation something like this happen. I had a neighbor that I waved to everyday, our scheduals were so different that usually the only time for conversation was while cheking the mail or emptying the trash. All of a sudden I didn't see her at all. Her car was sitiing in the drive way but I never saw her, I did worry and no one seemed to know anything, until one night there was an accident outside my home, I was surprised to see her car there and she had not came out to see what had happened. I found out that the reason she had not answered the door or returned any messages is because she took her own life. I felt responsible, because I felt I should have known that she was so sad, that something was wrong. I wish that I could have had the foresight to say some words of wisdom to share with her that could have made a difference. The crazy thing about it was that no one else really noticed that she was gone, that anything was different. Like in the news story you shared. People assumed that she was out of town, or just maintained a different schedual. Since this happened I am a lot more interactive with my neighbors. I want to know that they are okay and hope that they too would come and check on me if they did not see me for a day or two, if I didn't tell them I was going out of town. Stories like the one you shared and my personal experience show why it is so importnat to know what is going on around you. Thnak you for this discussion.

I agree "Different culture see elderly differently." Such cases are random. Some one will come to the help. Here, the Guy was lucky to have been looked after by the Nature. Human vallues do not have much relevance now a days. The life style is changing very fast. Now a days Man is wolf to a man.It is most unfortunate

your post quite saddens me. i am from the phils. and in our place, there is such a relationship among the neighbors that i can say this couldnt have happened here. in our compound, people talk a lot, greet each other, in other words, share lives. and because of this culture, i have grown to be more conscious of building relationships than accumulating wealth. but anyhow, your post is such a reflection of things that are happening around us. this is not quite true to all people in all places. i still believe that there are people out there with a big heart and a helpful pair of hands.

I afraid, I'm not having much contact with my neighbour. I couldn't notice if something happens in their house, if its noiseless. They will not notice about my home too.

It's sad, really sad. I was just wondering what kind of neighboors does this man had? It's a cruel world we live in now a days, people tend to spend time alone in thier computers and won't care with anyone else anymore. I'n glad I live in a different country with diffrent culture,we don't just let the older relatives live alone specially if he's sick.I just hope we could be all more concerned and more caring indiviaduals.

Oh this is just to sad. I can't imagine the poor man there alone and nobody bothered to check and see where he was. If I notice that I have not seen my neighbors for a couple of days, I go check on them. My heart just breaks for these people who are so alone. My parents instilled in us that we take care of each other and our neighbors. It has always been important to us. I have had people ask me did I think I or my neighbors are nosy, I said no, a nosy neighbor is in everybody's business and usually likes to spread rumors, a caring neighbor keeps a watchful eye....we need more caring in this world.