Stop

         This happened just last week. It's something I'll always remember.   

         It was just a normal night. Like most other nights. Long day of school and work. It was 10 PM, the normal time I’d clock out from work. Still garbed in the blue and black colors of my store’s uniform, I drove my sand coated, silver Honda Accord out of the parking garage down Euclid to First. Making the turn to a street close by to where my house was, my mind was filled with all the homework I needed to get done in the next couple of weeks.

After making a left around the roundabout that was only down the street from my house, I noticed a flash coming from the dark street. The light hit my eyes several times, creating the purple and green silhouettes. A little annoyed by this, I shook off the light as a prank for a second. I was about to turn into the little looped road that my house was on when I noticed what or who the source of that light was.

A rusty old bike and an older man sprawled out on the ground, a flash light shining brightly in his hand. Immediately, I hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. Leaping out of the driver’s seat, I inspected the area, ignoring the blaring alarms in my mind.

The elderly man’s eyes locked onto mine as I kneeled before him, assuring him that I would do what I could to help. My mind called at me to go back home and ask for help. My house was just right around the corner, but I felt that I could not just leave him there. He was an older gentlemen of 80-something years. He had been biking with a gallon of milk and a pie from Fry’s foods, just down the road from where I lived. He had fallen and having had heart attacks prior to this incident, he was having a hard time getting up.

It was a quiet half an hour, trying to help him up. We talked a lot about him. He had been a war veteran. He was supposed to go to work the next day. His wife didn’t speak English very well and she may not be the smartest, but she was kind. We had a difficult time. He had a hard time standing. I did not have the strength to help him up with my own power. In the end, we had his bike set up to help him up. He would wobble, but once he was up, he stayed up. We secured his bike to the small trunk of my car and very slowly, drove off to his home. It was about a ten minute drive with how careful I was driving.

After driving through the maze that was his neighborhood, we arrived at his house. Helping him out of the passenger’s side, his wife heard the scuffle and walked out of the home. Looking at me with her eyes shining. There was a bit of difficulty pulling the bicycle out from my trunk (the wheel and steering bars would get stuck) but as soon as the bike was set on the ground, the couple came up to me, thanking me for stopping to help.

As I drove home after that, I thought of a few things. I thought my boyfriend and roommates who would be waiting for me at home, worried that I was an hour and a half late. I thought of the many cars that had passed us by as I tried to help that elderly man. I thought of what would happen if the elderly man was just a decoy for a threat on my way. I thought of what could have happened if I hadn’t stopped and left that elderly man alone.

After getting a bit of a scolding by one roommate and a silent hug from my boyfriend, I knew I had done the right thing. To be left all alone is a painful feeling. I don’t regret helping that old man. I’m happy he is now at home, safe with his wife.