I was one of those crazy people shopping on Black Friday. Not the get up before the crack of dawn shopping…but still shopping. I was in Kohls and the line was around the store. My sister, being the good sister she is, gets in line. My niece and I then begin to shop and bring our wares back to my sister to hold. I am in the men’s department and I hear someone crying. Being the nosey person I am, I peek about until I find the source. I came around a display and see a woman in tears clinging to a tie display like it is her lifeline. I approach this woman and ask her if she is ok. She tells me “no.” I ask her if I can help her and she nods continuing to sob. I asked her if she needed medical attention. She said “no” just needs a wheelchair. She saw one at the front and needs it. I offered to help her to the ground so she would not fall and she refused. Between the tears, she was able to tell me it was her back. This was the ONE spot in the entire store that was vacant. I hated to leave her but had to.
I rush to the front of the store and find two clerks standing on the other side of this tremendously long line. I get their attention and briefly tell them about the woman. The older of the two orders the younger to get the wheelchair to me ASAP! People are so rude! The would not even move the least bit to allow the clerk to get the wheelchair to me. I managed to breach the line and grab the wheelchair from the clerk. I maneuvered my way through the store back to where I left the lady.
The lady was still clinging to the display but her daughter has arrived. I scoot the wheelchair as close to her as possible and lock the brakes. She is still sobbing. Her daughter and I get her in the chair and put her feet on the footrests. She was still visibly upset. She kept thanking me over and over again, saying no one would help her. No one would stop. The poor lady. To be in such distress and have not one person offer help. In a very crowded store to have people walk around her and ignore her! I got down on her eye level and asked her again if she was sure she did not need an ambulance. She assured me she would be ok now that she was sitting. They were going to the car and head home. I offered assistance to get her to the car but her daughter told me she could handle it from here. I watched the poor woman leave with her daughter pushing her.
I don’t write this to bring any praise to me. I write this to remind us all to be kind. The Safety Director at my school has a saying “If you see something, say something.” This is a good motto in life. If you see someone in distress, help. If you see something off, report it. If your gut gives you a bad feeling, trust it. We are all on this beach called life trying to thrive, succeed…some are just trying to make it through. How much better this world would be if we cared for strangers. That will look different for every person reading this. Go out of your way to do something kind today!
Really nice of you , people are jerks most of the time , sometimes it just amazes me how much rude they are .
Bravo for you . I simply can’t understand how someone can put shopping in front of helping someone
You are great person , not many people would help as you did , as you could see yourself with people who didn’t wanted to move for even wheelchair to pass
How kind of you! It’s people like you who make the world a better place. Bravo, Tracy!
#AnythingGoes
that was really nice of you. I would have done the same thing because I hate seeing people in distress. #AnythingGoes
That was nice of you. The harsh reality that nobody was willing to lose the possibility of a bargain to see if she needed help is something people need to realize, esp if they have relatives who are not good at getting around by themselves and/or have a disability. I had fallen a couple of winters ago on a sidewalk on a very busy street people commute into the city, and I could not get up. Nobody stopped to help me, and people could see me struggling to get back up. Finally after about 15 minutes a policeman saw me and pulled over and helped me get up. When he helped me get on my feet, he goes “oh, I thought you had gotten hurt. That is why I stopped.” In other words, if he didn’t think I was hurt, even the policeman would not have stopped. It was a rude awakening, and a sad reality. No matter how careful you are, at some point, you may need someone’s helpful hand. I hope to be a helpful hand where I can. Thank you for caring.