In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.
During my my late teens, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and was consistently without any seats once I got on.
During a certain commute, I started experiencing terribly ill as the bus rocked around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to hold on just a little longer before the bus reached where I needed to get off, at which point I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient washroom to throw up.
As we neared the avenue close to the stop when it dawned on me I was unable to hold on. In an instant, it was like a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.
Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front of the bus, so I managed a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, informing him I needed to be sick. He opened the entrance and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved to avoid being sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk toward the green space across the road, where I thought I could at least secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to be sick. But then I apparently fainted. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible or see properly, leading me to start dragging myself toward the park.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost supported my weight down into a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to remain with me but I said no.
A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I could not to get up at that moment but I was able to say thank you and after a few more minutes was able to move my legs. I made my way home passing the next few days recovering from which was a nasty tummy bug.
I did not see his features – just his lower half along with a sizable metal toolbox he had with him – but he helped me, at a moment I was completely helpless.
Frequently, society tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that hardening of the heart. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.
