I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.
During my nineteenth year, my daily commute involved an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and was consistently without any seats once I boarded.
During a certain commute, I was feeling incredibly sick as the bus swayed around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to persevere another few kilometres until the bus arrived at my destination, and then I could make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.
As we neared the street towards the destination as I realised I wasn’t going to last. In an instant, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; similar to when one cut the sound. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned near the front of the bus, allowing me to take a few steps forward and asked the driver to open the doors, telling him that I was about to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
I was determined not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and started trying to stumble toward the green space on the other side, where I thought it would allow me to discreetly hide near some foliage to be sick. Yet I must have fainted. I could feel my body but I was unable to walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the grassy area.
“Are you okay, dear?”
Right then, I got scooped up. I felt an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I had to to vomit. Therefore, he almost carried me over to an adjacent building and put me into the female bathroom. He asked me whether I required him to remain with me but I refused.
A few minutes later, I had recovered enough to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the door I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I was able to express my gratitude and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I returned home and spent the next few days getting over what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.
I did not see the stranger’s face – merely his legs and the big steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was completely helpless.
Often this world has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that reverses that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is to be kind, something I love about humanity.
