True story. About ten years ago, I was at a Starbucks eating one of their dry overpriced sandwiches. I must have been a little to eager to put that thing out of its misery, because I took a huge bite and promptly began choking on it. At first I was like "play it cool, you don't want to make an ass out of yourself", and tried coughing it up with no luck. Eventually, realizing I wasn't going to be able to do this on my own, I stood up and threw out the international "help me, I'm fucking choking" sign. About half the store was staring at me, not one person moved. I distinctly remember thinking, "so this is how it's gonna be? I'm going to die in the middle of a crowded Starbucks."
After what felt like an eternity, I gave up on the other patrons, staggered outside, and gave myself abdominal thrusts on a bike rack. At this point 100% of the people were staring out the window at me, still no one offered any help. Luckily, I was able to dislodge the chunk of shitty "artisan" bread, regain my composure, and flip off the entire store as I walked to my car.
Sometimes in dire circumstances, someone has the courage to step forward and become a hero. Those people don't go to Starbucks.