This morning I was running late for class. I had to drop my son off with his father and needed to get gas, and on top of that I had to drive by my house to make sure my daughter and niece were outside to catch their bus. As I’m driving down my busy road with maybe 5 cars in front of me and 10 cars going the other direction, I noticed an elderly man on a bike fall into the road. The 5 cars in front of me and I were stopped at a red light. I watched him for a minute while I wait for the light to turn, and he wasn’t moving. His helmets flow off so I was thinking the worse.

The man falling isn’t what upset me. What upset me was what happened next. All 15 cars drove around him! There were people walking by that didn’t even look at him as he laid there. It was at that moment I was ashamed at our species. I say species because I’ve seen a video of a dog dragging another dog out of traffic after he got hit, or another video of a goldfish helping another goldfish that had a broken fin swim to the top of the tank for food.

So once all the assholes past this man on the ground I stopped. By then he hasn’t moved yet. Luckily as soon as he seen me coming he started to move. I helped him up and gathered he groceries. His helmet that flow off his head was actually a construction helmet which is why I didn’t prevent him from hitting his head. Sadly I didn’t get his name and he declined my offer for a ride. But I got back into my car and was fighting back tears for what I just witnessed.

When have our lives become so engulfed with ourselves that we can’t take 5 min to help someone? There will ALWAYS be time to give someone a helping hand especially if they look hurt. Our society is run by our ambition to make money. Time is money right? But as we look at ourselves so capitalistically we lose our humanity. Our society cannot climb out of this whole we are in without helping each other, there will always be one person left in the hole that will need a helping hand.

I am not righting this to get a high 5 or be “recognized” for what I did, which shouldn’t be a big deal in the 1^st place. It is a big deal that I felt the need to share this story so that there will never be a person that society “drives” around again.