Wednesday 30th November — The cat has Asthma
Another day, another story! This time I have a lovely story to share, and is a demonstration of why I love living in a small rural seaside town.
Grab a drink, hot or cold, whichever is your preference and read my story. I’ll keep it relatively short!
In our town, we have many retirees, for various reasons, but one being that the town is not that far from the city (four hour drive) so it’s a “sea change” without moving too far away from family. When we came here, I tried to find a walking group that did not walk at some ridiculous hour of the morning, and could not find anything, so I created “Walking with Friends” Apparently many agreed that walking at the crack of dawn did not go well with the retired lifestyle, and joined me.
For two years, we have walked each week on a Wednesday, sometimes it was too hot, or raining, so we would adjourn to a local cafe for coffee and company instead. The tradition has developed that we walk, then we attend one of the many excellent local eateries for coffee. This has been a great success and many new members have joined us since the beginning.
However, I digress. Today we walked as always, it was a lovely warm, but not too hot, afternoon as I set out for town to meet the group. Short drive, but one I enjoy very much. As I get to the top of the hill, I have a panoramic view of the sea, and part of the Lakes system with the town in the foreground. It never ceases to please me, with it’s variants of color, light and shade. A view in a million!
There was the danger of “Thunder storm asthma” today, but I had forgotten to take my puffer, so I stopped at the local chemist to purchase a spare one. The Chemist, being apparently unaware of what a Ventolin puffer is used for, inquired what I wanted it for!! I looked into his eyes for a split second before replying “the cat has asthma”. Apparently this explanation was satisfactory and he bustled away and returned with a Ventolin puffer! Without comment he handed it to me, and also without comment, I took it! I wonder now, if he was trying to figure out how I got the cat to use the puffer, or did he sense the sarcasm in my voice?
Moving on from there, I could see the ladies of the Walking Group were already assembled at our designated meeting place. As I greeted each of them and we exchanged pleasantries, I was again struck by what a nice feeling it is to belong to a group of diverse, yet connected, people. We are all so different, and yet that’s what makes it so interesting! As we exchange thoughts and ideas, each of us is challenged to revisit our views and perhaps long held opinions, within a safe and accepting environment. There is no “agenda” within the group, we are simply enjoying each other’s company and the stimulation of different views and opinions.
Having decided that all who were joining us today were in attendance we set off. The faster walkers take the lead, and are soon out of sight, the medium walkers are somewhere in the middle and the slower walkers are bringing up the rear. My friend and I are the slower walkers, so we were well behind the main bunch of walkers, when we decided that we would cut through a side street, thereby halving the walking distance, and meet the faster walkers as they converged on the cafe of choice.
This was an excellent plan until my friend tripped and fell, falling heavily on her knees onto the bitumen. To my utmost concern, she announced that she could not get up unaided. I knew I would not be strong enough to lift her alone, and we are, at this point, in a very precarious position, her on all fours on the road, right in the way of traffic coming around the bend! I signal frantically to the oncoming traffic, which, thanks to our local by laws, was only moving slowly. Cars stop and people bail out to see if they can help. One lovely lady offers to call an Ambulance, a gentleman advises my friend to stay sitting in the gutter until she feels better. Another lovely young woman offers to drive us where ever we are going (without asking first WHERE we were going!) My friend says she is not hurt, but cannot arise unaided, so together with the kindly motorists, we lift her carefully onto her feet. She announces that she is fine, thanks everyone for their kindness, but insists on walking on. As we again thank all those who stopped to help, and begin to move away, we realise that her shoe is broken, and she will not be able to walk with it. As I am accustomed to walking bare foot, I give her my slip ons to wear, and we move on.
We were both very grateful for the concern of all those who stopped to help us, and both of us commented on how different that response is, to where we had both previously lived. I recounted to her how I had fallen one day in the street in a busy city area, and how people had simply stepped around me, NOT ONE offering any assistance. I was well dressed, carrying my shopping, in a so called “posh” shopping center, and yet not one person even looked in my fallen direction! How different the response today, with everyone stopping and offering help!
I understand that people don’t want to get involved, of course, you never know what you might be walking into unawares, but isn’t it a sad commentary on our society in general, that a lady can fall in the street, and everyone simply averts their eyes, rather than assist? I’m sure that the lovely people who stopped to help us today, did not think for even a moment, before pulling over and coming to our aid! Did they consider it might be a set up? Did they think “Oh well, they’re probably drunks, or on drugs” It would seem not, what our rescuers saw, was two older ladies in need of some help, and they stopped to offer it! I am very grateful for the caring concern of my fellow citizens in this town!
Whatever the disadvantages of living in a small rural town might be, they are totally outweighed by the generosity, caring and kindness of people living here.
The Wendy Diaries 