In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

Back when I was my late teens, my morning travel was on an crowded coach. It was perpetually crowded and invariably became without any seats once I boarded.

During a certain commute, I began feeling quite nauseous when the coach lurched around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to persevere another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to vomit.

As we neared the street towards the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became hazy and muffled; as if someone cut the sound. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was near the front on the bus, allowing me to take a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to pull over, informing him that I was about to be sick. He opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was resolved to not get sick before six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and began attempting to stumble to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to be sick. But then I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my physical self, yet walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“Are you okay, dear?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. I sensed someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I needed to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight into an adjacent building and put me into the female bathroom. He inquired if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.

Not long after, I had recovered sufficiently to sit down and from outside the door came him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to stand up just then but I did succeed to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my legs. I returned home and then spent the following days getting over which was a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and a large metal toolbox he had with him – but he helped me, when I was completely helpless.

Many times, life can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He was proof that our default setting is to be kind, something I love in other people.