How many hundreds of times have you heard someone say, in our yuppie suburb, “I don’t want to get involved”?

They say it when there is a controversy. Someone is in trouble. Someone MAY be getting picked on. Someone MAY be a victim of wrongful treatment in a community.

But will all people come forward? Help the person out? Stick up for them?

Sacrifice their own selfish interests because it’s necessary to do the right thing?

No, no and no.

The scenario in American society that sociologists have always said started this phenomenon – or at least was the first formal demarcation of the approach – was in the news again this week.

Winston Moseley died. He was the guy convicted of brutally raping and killing a young woman named Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964. He served more than 50 years in prison.

The reason the case has worldwide acclaim is because, allegedly, the horrific crime occurred in a place where many (dozens even?) people either witnessed all or part of the actions, or could hear all or part of it.

A New York Times story shortly after the murder reported that as many as 38 people were some form of witnesses – yet most or all didn’t or wouldn’t come forward to help either the victim at the time or the District Attorney during prosecution.

One of the could-have-been witnesses supposedly said they didn’t attempt to thwart the attack because “I didn’t want to get involved.”

The story has been largely debunked since then. Apparently, a harried police official counted several witnesses multiple times – for example, each time a person’s name appeared in a statement or report, that person’s name got added to the running total of shameful bystanders.

Nonetheless, the concept of tragic, shocking apathy sprung out of the case – and stuck in the American psyche.

I studied the case in college. I will never forget.

I had always been raised in a household where the mantra was the opposite – always help someone in need.

I was mystified and staggered at anybody saying they didn’t want to get involved about anything, let alone something this morbid.

The attitude of selfishness and its cousin, apathy, is my pet peeve in life.

People often ask how I like all the changes in Scarborough the past half-century.

I always say two things: “I like the addition of new people, new styles, new places, new ideas. But I don’t like all the selfish people who have been thrust upon us as a new bedroom community.”

Kitty Genovese died perhaps because some people would not get involved.

It is a lesser but still significant “sad” to see towns and cities in Maine be less humane, they can be due to the same attitude.

Dan Warren is a Scarborough trial lawyer. He can be reached either through private Facebook message at the Jones & Warren page, or email at [email protected].