Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, especially when we are witnessing someone doing something cruel right in front of our eyes. Sure there are those heroes who go above and beyond and stop those cruel and heartless. But what about ourselves? Would we really react that way?
That’s what one episode of What Would You Do? asks the customers at a New Jersey grocery store called Kilroy’s Wonder Market. What if you were in line at a grocery store and witnessed a customer mocking and ridiculing an employee with special needs? How would you react? Would you step in and tell the customer to be respectful? Would you pretend you didn’t see it?
We’ve covered one woman’s heartwarming experience with an employee that has special needs before, but there are definitely people in this world who lack respect for their fellow human beings.
If you do not know, What Would You Do? is a television series that performs social experiments with hidden cameras. Typically, there are actors who are doing something out of the ordinary and they film the reaction of the public to see what people would truly do when presented with these scenarios. One of the previous episodes featured a soon to-be-married daughter being insulted by her mother as the pair searched for the perfect wedding dress. She was berated constantly by her mother for being overweight. If you ever wondered to yourself how would people react to a strange scenario, What Would You Do? has likely already done the experiment!
In this episode, there is an actor with Down syndrome who is posing as a bagging clerk at Kilroy’s Wonder Market in New Jersey. As he is bagging, he will be mocked mercilessly by other actors who are posing as impatient and rude customers. These actors will go as far as to use the awful “R” word directed at the actor.
Of course, everyone else aside from these actors, have no idea that it is a social experiment, so we can see what their true, honest reactions will be. Instead of people telling us how they would react, we can see what they would actually do when they see the scenario play out before them in their everyday lives. No camera magic here, just straight up honest reactions. We aren’t always the best people we wish we were, so it can be very heartwarming to watch those people who are brave enough to stand up for what is right do what they do.
After you watch the video, tell us: what would you do? Would you be brave enough to tell the rude customer to stop? Would you try to comfort the employee afterwards? Be honest!
Be prepared for a video that won’t just surprise you, but will remind you of the compassion so many humans have for each other. As a society we work best when we are helping each other up.
