I see a lot on the bus. Some good some bad, some crazy, some thought provoking, but always unpredictable.
Today, a blind man was riding on my route home. This isn’t in itself unusual, but he caught my eye because he seemed a little more uncertain of his surroundings than other blind people I’ve encountered on the bus. That might sound irrational, but I’ve been amazed at how well a person learns to adapt without the use of all their senses. I’ve witnessed the confidence they strike out with and how articulate their movements are. It’s truly remarkable. Anyways, I imagine this man perhaps was used to more assistance or maybe some days are just harder than others to discern all the noises swirling around you. When his stop was called out he rang the bell, and fumbled his way to the exit.
As I watched him step onto the sidewalk, I thought about how wild it is that in the hustle & bustle of rush hour traffic and sea of people streaming out of buildings and crossing streets, this man was going to find his way without sight. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what that would feel like.
“Where’s he going??” I heard someone call out.
Eyes wide open now, my day dreaming came to a screeching halt. We all watched from the inside of the bus in helpless horror as the man turned the wrong direction and headed straight into passing traffic. Moments like that always seem to play in slow motion. By the grace of God all drivers in the immediate vicinity were alert and swerved out of the way. One of them, a guy probably my age, quickly took control of the situation. He pulled over, tossed on his flashers and ran to help redirect the man out of harms way and headed in the right direction.
An audible sigh of relief swept over all of us onlookers and we sat back in our seats, stunned by what just happened. Still not sure how no one was harmed, or no cars collided, but so thankful everyone was okay.I’m grateful for hero’s like the man in the red SUV, whose reaction is ACTION when others of us just freeze, and challenged by the courage of the man without sight to navigate this city when he could choose to let fear keep him from ever leaving the house.
My heart breaks knowing that’s probably really defeating sometimes, save terrifying like on a day like today. Thank you Jesus that this was a tragedy avoided, and praying for continued protection over that man and his journey.
Real Talk 