In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible When a Man Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.
Back when I was 19 years old, my regular journey to work involved an crowded coach. The vehicle was always crowded and invariably became without any seats when I got on.
One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill when the coach lurched around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to endure just a little longer until the bus reached my stop, so I could then rush hurriedly to the closest washroom to vomit.
As we neared the road leading to my stop and it dawned on me I would not be to last. In an instant, it seemed a fog descended upon me. The world became hazy and muffled; as if someone muted everything. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps forward and asked the driver to pull over, telling him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.
I was determined to avoid being sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and endeavored to make my way toward the green space on the other side, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself behind a bush to be sick. However I likely blacked out. I was aware of my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the grassy area.
“Everything alright, love?”
Right then, I was lifted up. There was someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I needed to vomit. Thus, he practically helped me walk over to an adjacent building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.
After a short while, I had recovered sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from outside the stall I heard him ask, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I returned home and spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I did not see the stranger’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that protective shell. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.
