I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.
During my my late teens, my morning travel was on an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and would always be without any seats by the time I stepped aboard.
On one specific day, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle swayed around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to endure for a few more stops before the bus got to where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest public restroom to vomit.
The bus was approaching the road leading to the destination as I realised I would not be to make it. In an instant, it was like a curtain fell over me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood close to the driver of the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps to ask the driver and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I needed to vomit. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.
My intention was to avoid being sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and endeavored to walk toward the green space opposite the street, where I believed I could at least find some privacy behind a bush to throw up. But then I apparently fainted. I was aware of my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see clearly, leading me to start dragging myself toward the park.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, someone picked me up. There was a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I explained to this kind passerby that I needed to be sick. So he virtually helped me walk down into an adjacent building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to remain with me but I refused.
After a short while, I had recovered sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to get up at that moment but did manage to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter was able to move my feet. I got myself home and spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.
I never saw his features – only his legs along with a sizable container for tools he was carrying – but he saved me, when I was at my most vulnerable.
Many times, life can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.