I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.
During my 19 years old, my daily commute was on an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and would always be completely full by the time I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I was feeling quite nauseous when the coach swayed around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to hold on another few kilometres so the bus could reached where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest public toilet to vomit.
As we neared the road leading to the destination as it dawned on me I would not be to last. All of a sudden, it was like a fog descended upon me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; similar to when one cut the sound. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.
Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps forward and asked the driver to stop, informing him I was going to be sick. The driver opened the entrance and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
My intention was to avoid being sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and endeavored to make my way toward the green space opposite the street, where I believed I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself behind a bush to vomit. Yet I must have fainted. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk or see properly, so I began dragging myself toward my intended destination.
“Are you okay, dear?”
Right then, I was lifted up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I told this kind passerby that I had to to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to wait for me but I said no.
After a short while, I felt better enough to sit on the toilet when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but I was able to say thank you and after a few more minutes was able to move my limbs. I made my way home passing the following days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I never saw that man’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable container for tools he had with him – yet he rescued me, during a time 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 undoes that hardening of the heart. He was proof that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, a quality I adore about humanity.
