Photo by @joseantoniogallegovazquez on Unsplash
“Do you think he’s okay? Should we have stopped and checked on him?” Ken asked me.
“Nah,” says I, “He’s just drunk. Did you hear a huge crack? I think he broke the fence.”
We were in the little red convertible around 7 PM when we’d noticed a big guy having trouble walking up a little rise in the sidewalk.
He wasn’t stable. His leg swung around, got tangled up in his other leg, twisted around in a really awkward pirouette, fell off the edge of the side walk and slammed up against a wooden fence. He lay motionless in the boxwood shade on a plastic bag encrusted pile of dirt as we drove by.
“Should we go back and check on him?” Ken, who is nicer than me asked. “What if he had a heart attack or something?”
“Yeah, turn around. Let’s go check him out,” I sighed.
We drove slowly back down the road peering at the fence.
“There he is!” I called out. “Hey man. We saw you fall. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m just drunk,” Big Drunk Guy said clearly.
“We wanted to make sure you weren’t having a heart attack or something,” I told him as cars whizzed past us.
“No, no heart attack,” he says. “I’m getting up now. I’m going.”
“Okay man, take care of yourself.” I told him.
As we turned around and he was back on his feet, moving pretty steadily up the sidewalk. He wasn’t weaving and there wasn’t a hint that he’d kissed a wooden fence which by some miracle looked unscathed. Really, I felt sorry for the guy but I was so glad he wasn’t driving.
I took a long hard look at my reaction after we witnessed this little scenario. When did I harden up so much that I might have left the guy laying there and not gone back to check on him? How many times is an act of kindness ignored because of we’re in a hurry or have already made a judgement about someone? Being aware is half the battle. Living is an opportunity to grow and learn and reach for the better you. But remember: we’re not perfect and perfect is not the goal. For me, compassion, understanding, listening, humor and acceptance have all woven themselves into the fabric of who I am. Who are you and what’s woven into your being?
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