The quote of the day on the way to school this morning was “Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a dentist. Everyone else in my class wants to be a firefighter, but I don’t want to cause that is too dangerous.” Now how at the age of 4 does one become already so cautious? It’s amazing how the personality of someone is fixed in the genes.
And on the subject of community helpers, we’ve been reading the Bible story with Chance of the Good Samaritan……
On our way home from school, we have to switch from the 9 tram to the 8 tram which are on opposing parallel tracks, and sometimes the 8 and 9 arrive at the same time, so we are forced to run thru the hords of people disembarking the 9, run across the tracks and jump on to the 8 before it takes off. It’s always chaos, and to add to the mess I am always lugging my heavy bag, Chance’s 100 lb backpack, and his scooter, while at the same time making sure he doesn’t get hit by the racing traffic speeding by just to our left. It’s fast and furious and I’m not always thinking or prepared for anything to stand in my way of getting us on to the 8 tram.
Yesterday there was a slight obstacle in my way, an old grey haired blind man standing in the tracks of the 8, right in front of it, very disoriented and waving his blind stick while shouting something…..to which I didn’t understand a thing. But I could deduct that he was trying to figure out to where to go, I just didn’t understand where.
Clearly I am overloaded but instinct tells me to help this poor man. Keep in mind I have never lead a blind man before nor can I speak or understand much Swiss and in hind sight there should have been a couple things I should have kept in mind…….
I probably should have announced that I was going to help him instead of startling the poor already-distressed guy as I grabbed his arm to lead him across the street. I too probably should have let him hold on to me instead of me holding on to him.
I was focused on getting this guy out from the tracks, and me and Chance onto the tram. I figured if I got him up on the platform, someone else could take over. So in the heat of it all, I probably should have noticed the large pole on the platform that I walked that poor man straight in to. Peripheral vision is just something blind people don’t have, and I was sadly reminded of that as he straddles this pole and bonks his head…..then begins to scream obscenities. Then If I could have deciphered the Swiss, I would have known that all he wanted to do was get on the 8 tram just like me.
Meanwhile the tram driver is seeing this atrocity play out right in front of his eyes, along with the other 100 passengers looking on. Finally the poor man makes it on to the tram with little help from me, and I get the worst stares from all the spectators as we too shamelessly board the tram.
I think I need some more training in good samaritanism, or leading blind people….one of the two. Poor little old man.
