Fixation

On wandering into town today, myself and a colleague heard some high-pitched shrieking, and then shortly afterwards happened upon a woman sitting cross-legged at the bottom of a flight of external steps, covered with snow, and one or two of them dotted with the contents of her handbag.

She was sitting in the snow, manically texting away. We stopped and asked if she needed some help, and she said 'I've fallen down the stairs' and then went back to her phone.

The scene felt totally wrong. We should have been the heroic rescuers, helping her to her feet and getting her things together. Instead we were on the fringe, standing and not knowing what to do. She seemed perfectly happy...just sitting, in the snow. Texting.

I got her stuff together anyway, even though she was totally ignoring us.
Tap. Tap tap tap. Tip tappity tap.
A bloke in a suit appeared at the top of the stairs, came down and helped her up. She wanted him to help. Not us. We were just random bystanders.

Willing, helpful, cheery and respectable looking (well, my colleague was), but just not goddamned good enough.

Maybe she'd been texting when she fell, but when she fell, she'd just kept on going with those buttons and texted for help.