I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.
At the age of nineteenth year, my morning travel meant taking an express bus. It was perpetually full and would always be completely full when I boarded.
During a certain commute, I started experiencing quite nauseous when the coach rocked around every turn. I kept telling myself to hold on for a few more stops until the bus arrived at my stop, at which point I could rush hurriedly toward the most convenient washroom to be sick.
We were coming down the street towards the stop when it dawned on me I was unable to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; similar to when one turned off the audio. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.
Fortunately, I stood close to the driver inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a couple of steps forward and told the operator to stop, informing him that I was about to get ill. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.
I was resolved not to vomit before six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and endeavored to stumble toward the green space on the other side, where I believed I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to throw up. Yet I apparently lost consciousness. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see clearly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
Right then, I got scooped up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I had to to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically helped me walk over to an adjacent building and guided me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.
Not long after, I felt better to the point of sitting on the toilet when from beyond the door came his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I did succeed to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my legs. I made my way home passing the following days getting over what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he had with him – but he saved me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.
Often this world tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore about humanity.
