The kindness of strangers
Today I experienced a random act of kindness. I was coming out of Central Market today, looking forward to getting home from tutoring and having the snack I bought, which included a lime-twist sparkling water in a glass bottle for only 62 cents (!) that I wanted to try.
While looking for my car in the parking lot, apparently the connection between my brain and my extremities was briefly severed, and suddenly I was taking a dive for the pavement, my possessions were flying out of my hands, and the bottle I was looking forward to was exploding. I screamed, then moaned a couple of times after my knee hit the ground. It was all most unexpected and unpleasant.
A stranger immediately jogged up to me, asked me if I was okay, saying "That did not sound good!", and helped me stand up. (Which was good, because at about that same time I registered that my feet were in possibly the least stable position to stand up on my own.) Then he asked again if I was okay. I checked my hands for broken glass and reported that I wasn't cut. He kicked all the big pieces of glass closer to the side of the aisle, which I was still too stunned to think of myself, and then confirmed one last time that I was okay before going about his day.
Thank you, awesome stranger. You are awesome.
(Epilogue: My knee was quite scraped, so when I got home I pulled out the first aid kit and cleaned/patched myself up. I discovered that at some point I'd stashed a pair of sewing scissors in there in case of gauze-cutting needs. Go self! I too am awesome!)
While looking for my car in the parking lot, apparently the connection between my brain and my extremities was briefly severed, and suddenly I was taking a dive for the pavement, my possessions were flying out of my hands, and the bottle I was looking forward to was exploding. I screamed, then moaned a couple of times after my knee hit the ground. It was all most unexpected and unpleasant.
A stranger immediately jogged up to me, asked me if I was okay, saying "That did not sound good!", and helped me stand up. (Which was good, because at about that same time I registered that my feet were in possibly the least stable position to stand up on my own.) Then he asked again if I was okay. I checked my hands for broken glass and reported that I wasn't cut. He kicked all the big pieces of glass closer to the side of the aisle, which I was still too stunned to think of myself, and then confirmed one last time that I was okay before going about his day.
Thank you, awesome stranger. You are awesome.
(Epilogue: My knee was quite scraped, so when I got home I pulled out the first aid kit and cleaned/patched myself up. I discovered that at some point I'd stashed a pair of sewing scissors in there in case of gauze-cutting needs. Go self! I too am awesome!)