In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

During my nineteenth year, my daily commute involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually jammed and would always be without any seats once I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I started experiencing terribly ill when the coach swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to persevere for a few more stops before the bus reached my destination, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to be sick.

As we neared the avenue close to the destination as I understood I was unable to hold on. All of a sudden, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; similar to when one turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front on the bus, allowing me to take several steps forward and told the operator to open the doors, informing him I needed to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

I was resolved to avoid being sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and started trying to walk to the park opposite the street, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to vomit. Yet I apparently lost consciousness. I could feel my limbs, but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I began inching my way to my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. There was an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I had to to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me down into an adjacent building and placed me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I declined.

After a short while, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the door came him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I could not to stand up just then but did manage to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I got myself home passing the next few days healing from which was a severe stomach virus.

I never saw that man’s face – merely his legs and a large container for tools he had with him – but he helped me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.

Frequently, society can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, something I love about humanity.