In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.

During my nineteenth year, my daily commute was on an crowded coach. It remained full and was consistently without any seats when I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I started experiencing incredibly sick when the coach swayed around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest public restroom to be sick.

As we neared the street towards the destination as I understood I wasn’t going to make it. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. The world became hazy and muffled; as if someone cut the sound. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front inside the vehicle, so I managed several steps forward and asked the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.

I was resolved to not get sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and endeavored to stumble across to the park across the road, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself near some foliage to throw up. However I apparently lost consciousness. I could feel my body but walking was impossible or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. I felt someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I required to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight over to a nearby building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to stay with me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the toilet and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I could not to stand up right away but did manage to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter was able to move my limbs. I got myself home and then spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half and the big steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he helped me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, a trait I cherish in other people.