It’s a warm day today. It’s like 22° C which, by my standards, is pretty fucking warm. I can’t deal very well with the heat, so the 30 minute trip between my air conditioned workplace and windows-wide-open apartment was like torture. I was looking forward to getting home and getting out of the damp clothes.
My stop was up next, and I stood waiting for the bus to come to a halt. Out of the window of the bus, I noticed a very old man. He was struggling to get his Walker over the curb to the sidewalk. The Walker was filled to the brim with the old mans groceries and bags were hanging off the sides. His whole upper body was nearly horizontal, and it looked like the Walker was doing everything it could to help his legs keep him standing.
I got off the bus, walked over to the man, and asked him if he needed any help. He asked me if I could help get the Walker away from the bike-path, and we quickly got him to safety. I bid him farewell and walked in the other direction, towards my home. I turned around and felt a stab in my heart. He was still struggling to push the Walker, even as it was on the sidewalk. I walked a little further and looked again, and to my relief he was moving at a slightly faster pace now. I often put on a hard exterior, but in reality, I’m rather soft on the inside, and I feel a strong urge to help people who can’t help themselves.
“So what, do you want a medal?”
No no, of course not. That’s not the point of this post. I helped an old man, just like anybody would. Right?
WRONG! While I was walking the mere 300 meters from my bus stop to the old man, no less than 11 bikers drove straight past him. Young and old, but all in a perfectly fit condition to stop for 20 seconds to help out the poor fellow. But by god, wouldn’t it be terrible if they had to delay their rush to the park, the beach or the bar? And what an ungodly strain it would put on them to drag an aluminium frame half a meter over a 5 cm curb. Godness no, please, go on ahead, I’m sure survival of the fittest will take care of him!
I was relieved to find that my sympathy for the old man was quickly replaced by fuming rage, hotter than the burning sun above me. What kind of self-centred universe do you live in, if you can’t take out a few seconds to help an old man who is left to his own devices? Is it really the kind of world we live in?
FUCK, that pisses me off!
