Am I an ass hole?

I was sitting in the lunch room enjoying some leftover spaghetti carbonara and salad and this story came on the news. I looked around.

"This man just stopped on the highway on his way to work and pulled a child out of a burning vehicle."

"Oh, that is old news. It was a few days ago."

Burning vehicle. That could blow up at any moment. I get back to my desk and start reading articles. He's humble. He doesn't want money or fame. He just wanted to save that little girl. He truly believes anyone else would have done the same. I think of "What Would you Do?" and know that, in fact, other people would not have done the same.

What would I do? I cannot see myself walking away from a child trapped in a burning car. But, would fear take over? Would my own survival instincts render me useless? What if the situation was not life threatening, like on "What Would You Do?" Would I stop and help the homeless person who collapsed on the street? Would I stop the gay bashing? Or the racism if I was in that store shopping?

I want to say yes. I believe in the latter situations that is the truth. A burning vehicle? I hope the answer is yes. I hope that I am not one of those ass holes who saves himself and lets everyone else be put in harms way. But how do you really know until you are in that situation?