The sad state of humanity.

DHP spent this afternoon in the emergency room of Denver Health. Don’t worry, nothing happened to me. For once, it was not my emergency.

So here’s the story. I was headed over to a friend’s house to water her garden and hang in her back yard while she is out of town. As I was on my way over there I drove past an elderly woman with a cane who was laying bloody on the sidewalk trying desperately to get up. She was in plain sight. I was on a one-way street and couldn’t pull immediately over, so I circled the block, pulled into a driveway and ran over to her. There was blood everywhere. She had certainly been down longer than it took me to see her and drive around the block. She had also emptied her bowels and was scared and embarrassed. I wrapped her in my camping blanket, helped her to her feet, then called the ambulance.

While we were waiting, we chatted. She told me her name. I told her mine. We talked about her daily walks and how long she had lived in the neighborhood. How we loved Denver and what a beautiful day it is. She also told me I was a good person and that she thought she was laying on the ground for a while and was hoping a car would pull over or someone would walk by. Stopping and helping someone in need does NOT make me a good person. It makes me a human being . . . so don’t even think it. While we waited for an ambulance, at least 100 cars went by and the woman down the street working in her garden, kept right on doing that!!!!!!!!!

The paramedic told me I was a good person, the nurse told me I was a good person, the guy from her retirement community who met us at the hospital told me I was a good person. This made me really, really sad. What has become of our society when basic kindness becomes extraordinary?

So, here’s what else I want to know. HOW THE HELL DID WE ALL COME SO DETACHED FROM ONE ANOTHER? This is a human being. She has dignity. She is suffering. Help her. When did this become something that we could not count on?

I’m going to call my mother now and tell her that the nurse said that she did a good job in raising me right. I have lots of examples to the contrary, but since I wasn’t planning on calling her today and didn’t get her anything for Mother’s Day (another of my favorite fake holidays) that should make her happy.