At the age of my late teens, my daily commute involved an crowded coach. The vehicle was always full and would always be without any seats once I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I started experiencing incredibly sick while the vehicle rocked around every turn. I kept telling myself to hold on just a little longer before the bus reached my destination, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to vomit.
As we neared the street towards my stop and I realised I wasn’t going to last. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. My vision turned blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.
Fortunately, I stood toward the front of the bus, so I took several steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, informing him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the bus doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
My intention was to avoid being sick in front of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to walk toward the green space on the other side, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to vomit. However I likely lost consciousness. I sensed my body but I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward the park.
“Are you okay, dear?”
In that instant, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I needed to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically supported my weight down into an adjacent building and put me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to stay with me but I said no.
After a short while, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to rise right away but did manage to thank him and shortly thereafter regained the function of my legs. I got myself home and spent several days recovering from which was a severe stomach virus.
I did not see the stranger’s face – only his legs and a large metal toolbox he had with him – but he helped me, when I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that our default setting leans toward compassion, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.
