The most crucial experiment started at the beginning of the show. The producers rig a doll to look and sound like a baby, and put it in a locked car with windows rolled up on Church St. in lower Manhattan on a sunny day with temperature 80 degrees. Many people walk past without acting, but some people try to call 911 or scold the mother when they find her. "You really shouldn't have this baby." Well, if it were real, she shouldn't. John Quionones then appears. He told "Good Morning America" today that about 10% of passers-by responded. One authority said that it is appropriate to break a car window to rescue the baby; by the time police arrive it may be too late. Inside the car the temperature can rise to over 120 degrees F and especially in babies heat stroke can come on very suddenly.
In some cities, parents have been prosecuted for leaving babies or young children alone in cars even momentarily. In a few tragic cases, people have gone to work and "forgotten" that they left small children in their cars (even at commuter parking lots), thinking they had left the kids at day care when they hadn't. I can just imagine the outright horror of suddenly remembering after a few hours at work. A few deaths have resulted this way.
A similar experiment was performed with a dog (Ryder, a professional Labrador retriever "actress") locked inside a car which, in fact, was air conditioned.
Then, there was an interesting experiment at a New Jersey beach side bar. A man "moves in" on a woman in an unwelcome way, and in some cases bystanders (both men and women) would try to chase the man away, or even try to get the bartender to call the bouncer or security. Women would draw the "victim" into their fold. Sometimes in dance or disco bars, people are disturbed even if they are stared at on the floor, particularly when the crowd is relatively light; that could make for another experiment. I can also suggest another experiment: when do bartenders or even bar security decide that a patron is impaired and should leave?
Then there was an experiment with a nanny being balled out in a public caf'e by her boss in front of kids, or even by the kid herself. There were some experiments with race.
Over four decades of adult life, mostly in cities, I have witnessed a few bizarre situations myself, and party to them once or twice. Once in a gay bar when I paid some attention to someone, about fifteen minutes later a woman approached me an asked me my birthday.
Update: Feb. 17
Further episodes add situations like a sensitive immigration matter abusing marriage. The ABC link now has a quiz.
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