Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.
During my my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and invariably became completely full when I got on.
During a certain commute, I began feeling quite nauseous as the bus swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, at which point I could make a mad dash toward the most convenient public toilet to be sick.
The bus was approaching the avenue close to the destination as I understood I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone muted everything. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front of the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and asked the driver to stop, explaining to him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.
I was determined to avoid being sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and started trying to stumble across to the park across the road, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to throw up. However I apparently blacked out. I was aware of my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see properly, leading me to start inching my way to my intended destination.
“Everything alright, love?”
In that instant, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I had to to vomit. Therefore, he almost helped me walk over to a close-by structure and guided me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to stay with me but I said no.
A few minutes later, I had recovered enough to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the stall I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to rise at that moment but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my limbs. I returned home and then spent several days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and the big container for tools he had with him – but he helped me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.
Frequently, society has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, something I love in other people.
