Happy and Sad

Today I had a really happy and sad experience.

I had all the kids in the car after getting Faith from kindy. It was hot, Seth was tired, Ella was crying about wanting chewing gum and Faith was hungry. Let's just say I was tired, frazzled, short tempered and probably speeding!

I needed to shoot into my mate Geoff's (emporium) to get some poster paint and I was wanting to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, so when I went through the Swanson Road roundabout to head down Universal Drive I wasn't impressed when I had to slow down for the car in front of me.

I quickly realised they'd come to a standstill because there was a man, about 30 years old, dawdling in the middle of the road. He was waving his stick around like blind people do, but he obviously had no idea he wasn't on the footpath but on the road right after a busy roundabout. I was pleased we'd slowed down and the traffic was blocked with us so he wasn't going to get hit.

To my shock, the car in front of me inched right up to him and as soon as he was just over to the side, but still on the road, the car sped past him. What was he thinking? Sweet, I'm outta here, nevermind the blind man in the middle of the road?!?!?!?!

I put my hazard lights on and jumped out to help him. I would have thought any person with half a brain would do the same but obviously not. As I walked behind him and said 'Excuse me' so I wouldn't frighten him by touching his arm, he calmly said 'Yes?' I explained he was on the road, and the poor man looked up at me with cloudy blind eyes and said 'oh am I? I thought I was on the path'. I guided him back to the path and asked if he needed any help or a ride somewhere. He assured me he'd be ok. I watched him walk a little way down the road and cried my eyes out.

This poor man needed help and someone just drove straight past him. As I drove away I notice a bus stop not even 50 metres down the road with about 5 people standing in it and they smiled at me as if to say 'that's nice you helped him'. Why didn't they run down and get him off the road?

So it was a sad experience cause this poor man was let down by more than one person who should/could have helped him. And it was a happy experience cause I did get to help him. The kids got to say a prayer with me for Heavenly Father to help him get safely home and learn to walk better on the path.

Just wanted to share that. From now on I'm going to try and be more aware of how I can help others, whether they be blind people in the street, people needing a hand to carry something, someone needing another dollar to pay for their grocery bill or whatever. I want to be the good samaratin, not the person who ignores and drives on.