The unfortunate Bobbitts, and how not to rescue a drug addict －不幸なボビットさんたち、それから麻薬中毒患者を救うときの間違ったやり方－

“I feel sorry for these guys.  I was an alcoholic and I could have become homeless.  Anyone could become homeless.  All it takes is the right girl, the right friends, and the right bar.”

“Some people say ‘Don’t give them any money.  It’s probably for drugs or alcohol.’  Well, yeah.  Drugs are pretty important to a drug addict.”

Both from 1990s comedian, Bill Hicks

I recently read a book by Canadian psychologist, Jordan Peterson, in which he gave some interesting advice.  He said, “Do not try to rescue someone who does not want to be rescued, and be very careful about rescuing someone who does.“  At first glance, the advice seems a little harsh.  If people need help, then how can you pass by without trying to rescue them?  But perhaps the following story supports Peterson’s view.

An American woman’s car ran out of petrol and she didn’t have money to fill her tank.  She was at a loss for what to do.  But a passing homeless man offered her his last 20 dollars to buy petrol.  So she accepted the gift.  After that, she and her boyfriend started an internet crowd-funding campaign to reward the homeless man for his charity.  They had a target of raising 10,000 dollars to give to the man.  But they collected more than they had expected – over 400,000 dollars.

What happened next is disputed.  The homeless man, Mr. Bobbitt, claims that the couple kept most of the money for themselves, paying for holidays and a new car.  The couple claim that whenever they gave Mr. Bobbitt money he just spent it on drugs.  They told a newspaper that he spent 25,000 dollars on drugs in just 13 days.  So they kept some of the money back and planned to start a trust fund and hire a financial adviser for him.  The case will go to court soon.

In any case, the story seems to show that helping people is not just as simple as giving them a pile of money.

Another thing which struck me about the case was the name of the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt.  The only other people I have heard of called “Bobbitt” are John and Lorena Bobbitt.  They became famous in the early 1990s after Lorena cut off John’s penis while he was asleep and drove away with it, throwing it out of her car window.  The poor Bobbitt clan never seem to appear in any positive news stories.

Vocabulary:

to rescue someone – to save someone; to help someone in need

at first glance – Judging from only a brief look

to be at a loss – to be unsure what to do; to be in trouble and confused

to be disputed – of an incident, for people to disagree about it