Well. What would _you_ do? in The irresistible Urge To Play with Light

There's been this video going round lately, where they deliberately set up a nasty situation and see how people react.

And I'm going to do this in a roundabout fashion.

See, this is Boat Quay in daytime:

Lost of pubs. Lots of alcohol sources. I invite you to imagine, therefore, a place which would detonate a breathalyser upon testing.

Boat Quay and Clarke Quay used to be the docks of Singapore, and they've been converted into touristy places; Clarke Quay is a bit more upmarket and touristy

and Boat Quay a bit more... happening, I guess.

They're separated by two roads and a little bit of no-man's land,

(although it's a very nice no-man's land)

and you pass through a pair of underpasses to get there

And at the head of the Clarke Quay area, just before aforesaid no-man's land, is Central:

Image source: Commercialdb.com Note: You could rent office space in The Central from this site, apparently.)

Which is a pretty funky place:

But it wasn't always like that.

See, back in 1997, it was an open lot; a wasteland of some description. And there was one evening where I'd been wandering along it with my cousin, when we came across three guys gathered around a fourth, lying in the middle of the ramp at the right hand side of this picture:

So we stopped and asked if we could help.

"This is out first bookout. And he's never drunk before. And he had too much. And. Well."

He was a large guy; they all were.

So I gave them a hand to kind of half-drag, half carry their buddy up the ramp so that they could roll him into an understanding cab.; got their story, too.

They were all enlistees, like myself. Unlike myself, they had no medical conditions, so they were all in the midst of medic training which, they explained, was kinda tough. So they'd agreed to come out on a Saturday night to unwind, and, well, their friend had gone spoing and a few cogwheels had come rolling out.

And then I heard a scream from the wasteland.

You have to remember that back then I was still kind of skinny and I had no combat training beyond the aikido I'd never mastered.^

But I shoved my bag at my cousin and went straight over the railing. Because I know what pain sounds like, and I know what fear sounds like, and apparently my body starts moving without asking questions like what are you going to do when you get there.

Because I did get there, after vaulting a few low obstacles, and there was a girl standing there curled into a ball and there were three guys and they all turned to look at me in a really unfriendly way.

Well. This is going to suck.

And I pulled my keychain out of my pocket and let it dangle from my fist.

"Is there a problem?"

"Go away."

"Not until I hear that there is no problem from her."

"Go away."

At around that point, two of the medics I'd been helping skidded into view. Apparently they'd come to same conclusion as I had, only slower.

Stalemate.

"As I was saying. Is there a problem, ma'am?"

We stood there for maybe half a minute, before a security guard finally showed up.

I think he told us something about a restricted area, but the girl ran over to him. The three guys gave me some kind of evil eye, but I didn't really pay much attention, because the key thing, as I saw it, was that the girl had been separated from them.

So. The question that's being asked is that of the New Delhi "rape van", where they parked a blacked-out van in a secluded area and started playing harrowing female screams from inside.

And they ask what would you do?

And I don't have to answer with what I would do, because I know what I did.

And given that I didn't think about it before I started running, I'm pretty sure that I'd do it again.

^Unless you count the regular brawls in a bunk stuffed with gangsters.