In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.
During my 19 years old, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. The vehicle was always jammed and would always be standing room only once I got on.
During a certain commute, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to endure another few kilometres before the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public restroom to be sick.
We were coming down the avenue close to my stop and it dawned on me I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it seemed a fog descended upon me. My vision turned blank and silent; similar to when one muted everything. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.
Fortunately, I stood toward the front on the bus, so I took a couple of steps toward the driver and told the operator to stop, informing him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.
I was determined to avoid being sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk across to the park on the other side, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy among some shrubs to be sick. Yet I must have lost consciousness. I sensed my limbs, but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, leading me to start inching my way to the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
Right then, I got scooped up. I felt an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I required to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight over to a close-by structure and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I refused.
Not long after, I felt better enough to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to rise at that moment but I did succeed to say thank you and after a few more minutes was able to move my feet. I got myself home and then spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I never glimpsed his features – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was completely helpless.
Frequently, society can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that protective shell. He demonstrated that our default setting leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about humanity.