These last few weeks have been pretty stressful for me. My luck hasn’t been the best, and I’ve had several expensive things come up that I have had to pay for that were not in the budget. Like most of you guys out there, my income isn’t what it was a year or so ago, and these unexpected costs have me dipping into my already low savings. So I’ve been stressed trying to figure out how to save some money, and how to pay for all of this stuff. I was in a pretty crappy mood today. I spent all day doing repair work on my house outside, and as soon as I started this morning I knew that I would probably require all day Sunday as well. I don’t get in bad moods often, but today I was in a bad mood and my brain was stuck thinking about what a bad day it was and how crappy my luck had been, and having a little pity party for myself. Woe is me!
The next thing I knew it was almost 6PM, and I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. On my way back from the hardware (6th trip?) store I ran up Taco Hell to fill my belly. When I pulled into the drive through I saw a man in the parking lot struggling to walk on crutches; I only saw him for a few seconds because the drive through was taking me back behind the building. After I placed my order they asked me to pull out front so they could bring me my food in a couple minutes. When I pulled around front, the man was still struggling to make his way, and had probably travel less than 15 feet in those 4-5 minutes. Allow me try to paint this picture for you: The man was in his late 60’s and probably around my height if he was standing upright. He was walking with the arm brace style crutches where your forearms go through loops, and your hands then hold on lower down the crutch (not the under the armpit type). It was obvious that his legs were pretty much out of order and that he could not move them or put any weight on them. Because of this he was leaning forward probably close to 30 or 45 degrees making a triangle with the ground, his crutches and his body, with all of his weight on his arms. He would shift all of his weight to one arm/crutch, pick the other crutch up and move it forward a few inches and then slide his legs to maintain his balance. Each movement was anguish and strained. Each step probably took 10-20 seconds and only advanced his position maybe 6 or 8 inches.
the type of crutches he was using:
So as I am sitting there waiting on my volcano burrito to be delivered to me at my private little pity party, I watch this guy struggling to walk and think to myself… you konw, my bad day isn’t such a bad day after all.
The way my truck was pointed, I was driving away from him. So I did a quick 3 point turn in the parking lot so I could exit by where he was walking. I asked him if I could lend him a hand, and as he struggled to look up at me from his deep forward lean, he told me that he could use a lift a few blocks down the road to his apartment. I helped him to get into the truck, and we talked a little bit as we drove the mile and a half or so back to where he lived. I asked him if he had another way to get around and he told me he usually uses the bus, but it doesn’t always run where he wants to go. When I asked him about a scooter or electric wheel chair he looked at me and said, “I’m sixty seven years old, and I have to stay strong. I’m afraid if I start using one those I’ll never regain enough strength to get around on my own. I have to stay strong.” He said he had Multiple Sclerosis, and he had too many friends with the same condition who were were not able to get out of the chairs after they started to use them. His attitude was upbeat and positive and seemed to be a very nice guy.
Even before he got in the truck, I was getting upset with myself. I had the nerve to complain about my bad day and my bad luck? Take another look at that guy Zach, and tell me again how f*cking hard your life really is, and how bad your day is. My good days and bad days were not even on the same astral plane with his good days and bad days. I am healthy, employed, own a home, have a nice car and an old truck, have great friends and family. I really don’t have any justification to bitch about how bad my day is. I might be healthy, but I think I can take some lessons from him on being strong.
I dropped him off at his apartment and said goodbye. He thanked me for the lift, and I thanked him as well. I’m sure he thought my thanks was just perfunctory or polite, but it wasn’t. He helped me more today than I helped him.