fairly nice hotel in Ashland Oregon..In the middle of the night we could hear a woman screaming and being beaten up..we think that she was being thrown into the walls..we tried to call the hotel management and 911 but they had turned the switchboard off so that no calls could go in or out. Is this legal in the US? We really didn,t know which room it was coming from and had nothing to defend ourselves with and were just awakened..If I had known the city I would have gone to a pay phone or driven to the police myself...As it is we did nothing because we didn't know what to do. Seriously, what would you have done?
2006-07-17 15:32:26 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
we had no cell phone and there was noone at the desk
2006-07-17 15:39:33 · update #1
You made an effort, to no avail. If you would have gotten up and checked it out the person(s) could have had a gun, beat you, etc. I agree with the cell phone, perhaps you could have done more but at what cost. Your in a hotel, from the sounds of it not as nice as you had thought, since there was no staff around to assist or no telephone service. What if you personally had an emergency, heart attack or something how would you have reached emergency personell?
I digress, I am all for helping fellow man, but weight the consequences, it's the difference between making an intellectual choice vs just jumping right in. What did your intuition tell you to do? If it told you to stay in your room and call, then in my books you did the right thing.
2006-07-17 15:42:06 · answer #1 · answered by peacein 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Ashland is a pretty open city with friendly people. I do not know about the legality of turning off the switchboard at the hotel; however, I do know that if I had been in that situation, I would have struck out to find a phone. Ashland is a small town with one main street and I don't believe it would have been too difficult to find help or a phone.
2006-07-17 15:36:43 · answer #2 · answered by cranura 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd have used my cell, or gone out of my way to call 911. If anyone's screaming, they need help. I'd have driven to a gas station, fast food place, anywhere that has a phone, and called. Please do call 411 and get the non emergency police phone number now and report the hotel for having no access to 911 services.
But what does all this have to do with being gay? people are people and we all have to look out for each other.
T
2006-07-17 15:44:31 · answer #3 · answered by tonya_momma 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would have used my cellphone and called 911. The hotel reception should have been open. I've never heard of them turning off the phones. Maybe you need to check further into that as well. What would have happened if your room was on fire or something? Anyway, I would have ran down the hall and found out what room it was coming from and then reported it to the police.
2006-07-17 15:37:33 · answer #4 · answered by pamela_d_99 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'll probably get bashed on this one. But in all seriousness nobody can answer this without having been in the situation. I think the only thing I might have done differently is head down to the front desk. Intervening without knowing the circumstances could get you killed. And no this is not legal in the U.S.
2006-07-17 15:37:22 · answer #5 · answered by Nagitar™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have cell phone, so i could of called. but, i myself would have gone to a store or went to knock on the managers door if i couldn't drive to a store to use a phone or find a pay phone! but, i'm also a survivor of domestic abuse. unfortunately almost always people don't ever call! i "know" people heard me screaming and all, but nobody ever called for me either. i got away and called myself, but that's not always possible! you and your partner can't change what happened, but just learn from it and if it ever comes up again...find a way. the police can find out where it's coming from!
2006-07-17 16:09:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I dont know what i would have done but i have been one of the women in a hotel room getting beat on and anything that could have stopped it would have been great. I know it is not your responsibility and you did not put her in that situsation but sometimes just making noise and causing a distraction can end the violince long enough for the women to get away.
2006-07-17 15:38:44 · answer #7 · answered by staringmommy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow. That is a tough one. I guess I would have gone down to the front desk and explained to the night clerk whatthe problem was. Maybe then the security guard could have figured out what room it was. You could have used the excuse with those fighting that they were being noisy...
2006-07-17 15:36:57 · answer #8 · answered by MissSubversive 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I probably would have tried to figure out which room it was then walked down to the front desk to have the staff call. Barring that I would have used my cell phone....and yes I always have it with me.
2006-07-17 15:36:03 · answer #9 · answered by Rare Indigo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You've done what you can. You ought to find another hotel to live in. I mean that's what I'll do if I'm face with that kind of problem.Only after reporting the incident to a police precint, of course.
2006-07-17 15:54:49 · answer #10 · answered by cellm8te 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋