In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.
During my nineteenth year, my daily commute meant taking an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be standing room only when I stepped aboard.
On one specific day, I began feeling terribly ill as the bus lurched around every turn. I kept telling myself to hold on for a few more stops until the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, so I could then rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public toilet to throw up.
The bus was approaching the avenue close to my stop and it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; like someone had muted everything. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.
Luckily I was toward the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a few steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, explaining to him I needed to vomit. He promptly opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk across to the park opposite the street, where I thought it would allow me to discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. But then I must have lost consciousness. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.
“Everything alright, love?”
Right then, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me into a nearby building and guided me into the female bathroom. He inquired whether I required him to wait for me but I refused.
A few minutes later, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from outside the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to stand up right away but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my legs. I got myself home passing several days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.
I never saw the stranger’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable container for tools he had with him – but he helped me, during a time when I was completely helpless.
Frequently, society tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.
