RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS| DISABILITY
Giving up Our Bus Seats for a Disabled Elderly Woman
A random act of kindness that was small for us but a huge help in the woman’s day
Riding the bus is hard. It becomes especially hard when you’re disabled. My partner and I would know. We’re both disabled as well. Mike walks with a cane and I walk very carefully but awkwardly with a gait. The other day we were on the bus, sitting in our normal spot when we had to take it, which isn’t often anymore.
We had to go into town to get our mail and get some food from the store. An old woman was getting on the bus. It took a minute or two for her to board. She said that she needed to go to the store and was debating on whether to get a transfer. She had to have been in her 70s and she used a walker to get around.
Since we were in the most open spot on the bus with the most space, we knew we had to move. She pulled up to the aisle and we had moved and sat across on the other side. She moved to our previous place and thanked us for moving.
When she got down in her seat, she realized she needed a transfer. She needed to get back up there and give the driver more change. The bus had started moving and there was no way she was getting up there. I took action at that moment.
“I’ll gingerly get up there and get the change for you.”
“No, son, you don’t have to do that. If you can get up there, give her this.”
She handed me change and I carefully made my way up there, almost stumbling on the way myself but I made it. I put the change in and the driver handed me the transfer. I then carefully walked back over as the bus stopped at the red light and got the transfer over to the older woman.
“Thank you very much. I really appreciate everything you just did for me. As you can see, it’s not so easy for me to get around.”
“I get it, it’s not very easy for us to get around either. I was just glad that I could help,” I responded.
She got to her stop a few minutes later at the store and thanked us for giving up our seats and for helping her with her fare. “No problem, have a great day. Hopefully, you don’t run into too much trouble shopping.”
“I’ll manage. I have to do this every week so I’m used to it by now. But I’m glad I had some help this time around,” she said as she smiled back.
This random act of kindness made her day. I could feel that large burden lifted from her. It was mostly something that is just common courtesy but you’d be surprised how many people wouldn’t help that woman in other cases. I’ve seen people listening to music in their ears on crowded buses while pregnant women, elderly or disabled individuals, or people with kids ignored.
What would you do in this case? Would you have gone to the lengths I did to help her out? Would you have moved your seat? Helped her pay her bus fare and bring her the ticket after? There are plenty of good people out there but also a ton of inattentive people. I wonder which one you are. A random act of kindness can certainly go a long way and ripple out into the universe.
Thank you to The Accidental Monster for this daily writing challenge in February.
