Driving Home

Yesterday driving home from work we chose to dive down Yonge street. It's a favourite route for me. The street fascinates me, it's so full of colour, of people, of stores ... it's just so FULL. I'm always able to see something new. I spot things in windows. I notice people on the street. Even when traffic is stopped, the eye can entertain. Sometimes, there's even drama.

Nearing home, our windows were open. Our air conditioner died a long time ago so we need, on hot days, to rely on wind as our cooling system. It was a very hot afternoon, people were beginning to look a little bedraggled in the heat. Suddenly, up ahead, we saw all sorts of commotion on the street. As we got closer we noticed a walker standing alone. It looked, for a thing that is a thing and looks the same way every single day, worried. Beside it lay a man, slumped on the ground. He was surrounded by three people. One gently talking to him, one on a cell phone, another, a very young woman, spotted a police officer directing traffic two blocks up.

She turned and ran. And ran hard. We could hear her call out to the police man. Who briefly stopped traffic, both ways, so he could hear her.

"A man has collapsed, I think he's really in trouble. He's just north, on this side, he has a walker."

The police man snapped into action, first he thanked her for alerting him, 'What's your relationship to the man?" he asked.

She stumbled around and then called out, "fellow human."

Even as he was calling in the emergency, I could see him smile at her response. He reassured her that help would be there soon. His words were barely out of his mouth when we heard the sirens in the distance.

She said, "I'll go back and let the others know."

"Are they 'fellow humans' too?'

She nodded and said, "I think so."

"Thank them for me will you, in a world full of people, it's nice to meet those who remember their humanity."

She nodded and was gone.

Traffic flowed again.