TIFU by not getting involved

The incident wasn't actually today but close enough.

While I was at a major department store's check-out counter, a woman approaches us and asks us if we've seen a 10 year old girl in the area. I hadn't because I was kind of facing the wall. The woman (probably the mother) was agitated but not overly projecting (silent hysteria)?

The clerk without any facial expressions whatsoever starts thumbing through the internal phone directory. The clerk says not a single sound.

The mother is nervously pacing back but keeping her emotions in check. The clerk had no emotions whatsoever. Time goes by. I ask the clerk if there's a phone number for security. Absolutely no response. I probably could have let loose a jar of live tarantulas on the counter and she wouldn't have reacted any differently.

More time passes. I ask if there's a phone number for emergencies. Still no emotion or verbal communication. The clerk continues to aimlessly and seemingly randomly flip through the telephone directory. The woman/mother goes off looking for help elsewhere. The clerk finally looks up and I tell the clerk that the woman is gone. She finally stops fiddling with the directory. Was the clerk simply being stoic, reticent, apathetic or a total sociopath -- I don't know.

But this is where I fucked up: I did absolutely nothing. I'm a bit of a loner and somewhat introverted and I abhor confrontation or drama. I should have spoken to the mother but I suspect that English wasn't her native language and that provided me with a great excuse to avoid engaging with her. I should have called 911 since if the little girl was abducted, seconds count. But I didn't because that would have meant that I would have to talk to someone and answer a lot of questions.

So there I am with a brain-dead clerk who's unable to call any emergency numbers, a nervous mother who I believe isn't fluent in English, a little girl missing and me too afraid to engage. I get through life by being quiet, polite and avoiding conversations which could lead to confrontation or awkward dialog. I was surprised that I was able to ask the clerk if there were any numbers she could call.

That's it. I don't know what happened to the girl. Maybe she just wandered off. I don't read local newspapers or watch TV news so I don't anything more one way or the other except that I might have really fucked up by not getting involved. A modicum of action on my part could have been helpful but I'll never know.

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