What is your reaction when you see a friend, or anyone trip an fall down?

I laugh (provided it doesn’t look overly serious), think and/or say something to the effect of “oooo that had to hurt”, and give them a hand.

hmm, now that I look at that again… assuming I didn’t trip/push them, why would I/anyone else “run away”?!?

its usually evident in the first .001 seconds if they are hurt or not. if they are, obviously you help. if they are not, it is appropriate to laugh hard. why wouldnt you? people falling is hilarious.

Depends, usually after I have stifled a snigger, I go and give them a hand.

I immediately laugh uncontrollably…Gotta love that schadenfreuda. ;)
Of course I do always make sure they are okay, then proceed to continue laughing my ass off.

OMG!!!! Thats like ttly th equestion for me and the answer is that I always laugh:):):):):):)
Sometimes I don’t really mean it its just that I can’t help myself from laughing:I

gasp

I find myself chuckling just reading some of these answers. :)
But, I usually suck in air and run to help. I haven’t been able to laugh.

My last week of work me and 2 other people were going to lunch at Taco Bell. We were going across the street and a car came around the corner flying. So we started running. I had heels on and tripped and my shin hit the curb. (No the car didn’t slow down as I fell).
The guy I was going to lunch with yanks me up and says “Get up Chyna, there’s going to be a line at Taco Bell if we don’t hurry.” I had ripped a 3 inch gash in my shin, blood running down my leg, and he’s worried about being first in line at Taco Bell! The other person was busting a gut laughing. (Still have a purplish scar).

@chyna I had a similar experience. My husband and I were walking down the shoreline to a boat filled with friends of ours. You know as the water goes out, there are drop offs. I went to jump down one about 1foot, and my body went, but my feet stayed put. I fell flat on my face, cutting my legs on rocks. There was a burst of laughter from the boat, while I was doing everything I could to keep from crying. I also had blood running down both legs.

@Rangie We have bad friends.

My initial thought is always concern. If no one is majorly hurt, I laugh.

@chyna your answer made me laugh. yes, we do.

What is that TV show, where the people send in videos of themselves doing crazy things. They fly through the air and land on their head, or up in a tree? Some of those are really funny, but some, I am sure the person got badly hurt.

That is why I always have a camera with me to catch those kind of Kodak moments to enjoy over and over and over.

If my camera is handy: take a picture
Whether or not I have my camera I usually (if it looks serious) suppress a laugh and ask if that person is ok.
If it doesn’t look serious I laugh hysterically while asking if they are ok =]

I would approach and ask if anything is hurting. If OK, I would try to help them get back on their feet, otherwise I will advise them to wait for medical help/attention.

If it happened in my place of employment, I will make sure that such a fall cannot be attributed to negligent upkeep of the premises.

I generally approach and ask if they require assistance. I have laughed on a couple occasions, but never when it looked serious. Truthfully, I haven’t seen that many people falling.

@Trillian hang around me, and you will. I can trip and fall over something I just thought was there. And I don’t mean a little trip and fall. We are talking hard an fast falling. It’s not funny, but it is.:)

My first reaction is Oh my god, are you okay?? I don’t usually find people falling down to be funny.. Now, if they walk into a pole or something..

Rangie, Charlie Golf One!

I remember one night, when my sister and I went out to meet friends at the local hot spot. When we left it was about 1:30 am, and I started around the front of the car. I promptly fell into a hole about 4½ feet. My sister stood and laughed so hard she wet her pants right there in the parking lot. I thought she would never help me out. Lucky I had a few drinks, or I probably would have broken something. We were in our late 20’s. What fun we had.

@Rangie Serves her right!

Hi, @Rangie :) You and I think along the same lines again! One of the few questions I have asked here was why people think those “comedy” shows that have videos people getting hurt are so funny. I don’t find it funny, and frankly, I hate those shows. I can’t even watch them. Like @Trillian, if it is immediately apparent that the person isn’t hurt, then okay. For some reason, that only applies to my close family members.

We laugh at ourselves all the time when we do something stupid! That’s not the same as getting hurt, to us. Like, running into a cabinet all because we didn’t turn on a light. Or slightly tripping over the same corner of an area rug all the time even though we know to simply pick up our foot an inch higher. Silly stuff like that.

If you walk into something huge, like a wall, my mom always says; “I’ll have that moved.” I say it now, and crack up every time.

I always say ” I saw that jump right out in front of you” :)

…..or, if it’d been a snake it would’ve bitten you :)

@phillis See, that’s overtly hostile. I prefer the more subtle reproach, ostensibly blaming it on the wall! ;-)

I always cringe when I see those ‘funniest video’ shows too! Motorbikes crashing and old ladies breaking their ankles at weddings: how is that funny?

The town where I live is a real family town and their are kids everywhere. I’m always seeing kids falling off bikes or roller blades, and once I saw a little girl fall in the middle of the road and drop her ice-cream (heartbreaking!). I always want to help, but unfortunately I’m a foreigner here, and for these kids talking to a foreigner is terrifying. I just end up making it ten times more traumatic for them.

If I spoke the language, I would have scooped up that girl off the road and gone to get her a new ice-cream!

Whats funny is when I glanced at this question without my glasses I thought it said…

What is your ERECTION when you see a friend’ double take x 3! haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AbQpzn6t4c&feature=related

Enjoy!

If the person who fell is someone I know, I rush over to see if they are okay and if I can help them. If anyone is laughing, generally I give them hard looks and if they too are someone I also know, I tell them to shut up and quit laughing.

I will help if it looks like I might be able to. I will also laugh if it’s funny—just can’t help it.

I do nothing, unless they are elderly, and then I will help them.

Sadly….. I explode laughing!

@Trillian Perfect!! I have a flight of steps in the house that could use a stern talking to. Stupid steps!

@jeanmay Aw, you can’t help because you’re foreign? That’s terrible! At age 9, my oldest daughter came flying back into the house one morning while waiting on the bus for school. We didn’t know our neighbors well, and the neighbor woman came out to offer her some cookies she had just baked. It scared the hell out of Allison! My neighbor apologized profusely that afternoon, even though she understood why. That is so sad :(

@phillis It’s really sad! We were in and out of our neighbours’ houses all day when we were little, I hardly remember being at home at all! Kids here are under a lot of pressure to learn English, and when I try and talk to them they freak out as if I’m about to give them an exam or something!

Actually, I never laugh. I always think “Oh my gosh, are you alright?” Unlike a lot of other people, I never find it funny when I see someone get hurt, even for a joke or in a “comedy” movie or t.v. show. No, I am not a humor-less person——far from it——but slapstick comedy and schmuck have never appealed to me.

It’s been like that all my life. When I was kid, I used to feel sorry for certain cartoon characters who got “hurt” or “ridiculed”——like the Coyote in “Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner Show”, or Sylvester the Cat, or poor Tom in “Tom and Jerry”.

I used to play the “devil’s advocate” so to speak, and actually root for the Coyote, Sylvester, and Tom, and curse the Roadrunner, Tweety Bird, and Jerry!! I still do. Lol.

@MRSHINYSHOES

I agree.

I think those that laugh at a potentially painful or frightening moment of another have some real issues.

Even the funny videos scene, I always cringe when I see someone fall or slip or trip regardless of the attempt at humor in the presentation.

@Coloma Yes, exactly. If it weren’t for the painful attacks and accidents on “America’s “Funniest Home Videos”, I’d watch it more. I have always found it strange how seemingly “decent, goody- goody looking families” in the audience of that show can sit there laughing their heads off as people get whacked in the head, fall from high places, get struck by heavy and dangerous debris, get kicked or hit in the groin, etc. Sheesh!