I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.
At the age of my late teens, my regular journey to work involved an packed public transport. The vehicle was always full and invariably became completely full once I got on.
On one specific day, I began feeling quite nauseous when the coach lurched around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to persevere just a little longer until the bus reached my stop, and then I could rush hurriedly to the closest washroom to throw up.
As we neared the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; similar to when one muted everything. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, so I managed a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, informing him that I was about to be sick. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.
I was determined not to vomit before multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to make my way toward the green space across the road, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself behind a bush to throw up. But then I likely fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I began crawling towards my intended destination.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, I was lifted up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I required to be sick. Thus, he practically supported my weight down into a close-by structure and guided me into the female bathroom. He inquired if I needed him to wait for me but I refused.
Not long after, I had recovered enough to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door came his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to stand up at that moment but I was able to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my feet. I made my way home and then spent several days getting over what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I never saw that man’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.
Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that reverses that emotional callousness. He demonstrated that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore in other people.
