‘Ring~ Ring~’ That ringing sound… pretty much is sending from either an e-biker or bicycle rider.
It successfully catches my attention. I look up, to the direction the sound echoes from. At my further front, there is an uncle (‘uncle’ is the local way of addressing any middle-aged man) turning his head looking at the woman who is sitting on the floor, in the middle of the pathway. The cemented pathway is meant for both pedestrians and cyclists use. The uncle who’s riding on his bicycle, rides passed around her, tries not to hit directly onto her.
(She’s sitting in the middle of the pathway… Why is that? Taking selfie or what?) I ask, in my monkey minds. I am actually on my brisk walk on this Saturday morning. This pathway is the usual route that I would take. Today, this scene happens before my eyes.
A few more steps, I reach where she is sitting. She sits on the floor, curls up, holds her knees close to her chest. Sniffing sounds come from her as well. I pause and stop walking. Standing next to her, I can now clearly see both of her knees are bleeding. (Oh, no, she must have fell down and injured herself.) She is still crying with her head down; didn’t notice me at all.
“Are you okay?” I ask. She lifts her head and looks at me. Traces of tears still showing on her face. She, who looks like around late 30’s, still crying silently, not answering me a word. “You okay? You’re bleeding.” “I tripped and fell down. And it’s painful… woo…” She answers but can’t really hold back her cries.
I reach into my waist pouch and get her some tissue papers. Pass them to her to pad on her bleeding knees. “Here, some tissues to wipe the blood.” Few scratches on the surface of her knees and some bloods bleeding from it. (Not serious bleeding, thank goodness.)
“Thank you.” She gently presses the tissue onto her knees. Tears still hanging on her eyes. “Are you able to go home?” I ask again. “I called my husband but he is still sleeping. Not answering the calls.” She replies while checking on her mobile phone if any messages come through. “It’s still early, many people not yet awake.” I reply. (That’s norm. What’s more when it’s a weekend. I, too, sometimes, sleep until nearly noon. Hohoho~)
(But, wait. Don’t tell me… She plans to keep sitting here, keeps crying while waiting for her husband to rescue her? Are you serious?)
“Do you want to go to the bus stop? There are some seats there. You can wait for your family, there.” Pointing to the bus stop which is just ten steps from us, I suggest.
She looks to the bus stop and considers. I lend her my hands and help her to stand up. She accepts my help, and tries to stand up. “Argh!” Her knees send her the pain. “Slowly… No rush.” I give a little encouragement to her.
She stands with one of her legs slightly bends and tiptoes the floor. I guess that right leg of her is much injured than her left leg. “Can you walk?” I am not sure about her situation. So, I would better check with her. “Yeah…” We walk slowly. She can only put her body weight onto her left leg, she is walking in small steps. I try to help her by supporting her left elbow a little. I am not a muscular man; my thin arms don’t have the strength to lift her up… So, we walk slowly towards the bus stop.
That ten steps suddenly seem so far away. Trying to kill the awkward silence, I ask “Do you stay far from here?” “No, just nearby. Around the corner, few blocks away.” She says. Her tears have stop for her focus now is all on the walk. “Oh, I see. So, how far have you been running just now then?” “Emm… about five kilometers, now.” She looks at her e-watch and reads the records. (Wow! Five kilometers?!? That’s far, to me! She’s strong…)
(Wait a minute, for one who can run for such a long distance, to have sitting on the floor crying when tripped and fell? Err… Is she strong or weak? Or physically strong is not equal to mentally strong?)
While I am busy talking in my mind, we reach the bus stop. She sits on the bench. “I’ll try to call my family to come and fetch me from here. Thank you. Thank you.” She looks at me and lightly nods her head (to express her gratitude). “No worries. Don’t be sad. Take care.” I say to her. She continues to work on her mobile phone, tries to reach her family. She should be fine now; I then continue on my brisk walk.
(If I don’t offer her to go and wait at the bus stop, would she keeps sitting there and crying, until her prince charming comes to her rescue? Do you have to be so Drama Queen? Interesting.)
Not that I am bias or looking down on her ‘please, save me’ mode. It’s just the life experiences that I had gone through till this day, have led me to quickly think of a solution when emergencies happened, to act within my capacity and to save myself from the situation. Most of the time, there is no one around me. My family, friends, they are not with me at that moment. I only have – ME.
Who doesn’t want to be pampered and cared for like a princess? I, too, don’t want to present myself as a tough woman; but do I have a choice? I don’t. I do allow myself to cry when emotion strikes but I would move on, soon.
To my opinion,
– What’s happened, already happened;
– Think of next step or solution to it is more practical thing to do next;
– After that, revisit the root cause of it; take precautions steps to avoid it from happening again.
Sitting there, keep crying and waiting for others to help me, is just non-value-added, to me.
‘Sometimes, it is okay for you to ask for help.’
‘You don’t have to put everything on your shoulders. You have done enough.’
‘Try to ask for help. You might be surprised to realize that many people around you are actually ready and willing to give you a helping hand.’
These messages came through to me when I listened to some wisdom quotes’ videos, in YouTube.
I digest the information. And think about it, deep within.
(I… I don’t know how to ask for help. I have trained myself to not causing any troubles to others. I would try to solve things on my own, with all the resources I have around me.)
(And… What kind of matters, should I ask for help from others? Not all of my friends are closed enough to talk about certain issues I faced. Colleagues, remains as work-related colleagues. Family members? Ha-ha… That’s the last option to me and I won’t go to them if I still have a choice.)
This would be another life lesson that I need to continue considering and improving by and for myself. Anyway, another lap to go. After that, I want to go eat Nasi Lemak for my breakfast. Complete my Saturday morning with a cup of hot coffee, oh yes~