THE KINDNESS OF FOUR FIREMEN
Everyone at some time in their lives
experience kindness from strangers and during my life, my experiences from
kindness, there has been no exception to that
premis.
I live
in a small bedroom community (Malton) just outside of the large city of Toronto
in Canada
I
am disabled and I own a very large scooter to use when I want to go shopping if
my wife is driving the car somewhere else.
At the
back of my scooter is a metal basket in which I can place my groceries in.
I
discovered to my horror on September 21st, that I lost the key to
the lock that locked my basket closed.
I called the local Fire Department and
a woman answered the phone. I asked her if the Malton fire station had a bolt
cutter that I could use to cut the lock free. I told her that if it has one, I
would drive my scooter to the station and use the bolt cutter to cut the lock
free from the basket. She said that she would see if they have one and she
would call me back.
Ten minutes later, my doorbell rang
and when I opened the door, there standing at the entrance were four firemen
with smiles on their faces. One of them had a bolt cutter in his hand. That
certainly is an unusual example of kindness.
I have been disabled since 1990 when
as a direct result of me suffering from heart disease. I subsequently lost 73%
of the functioning of my heart. Even to this day, I am suffering from ongoing
congestive heart failure. Physically, I am a total wreck. Fortunately, it
hasn’t had an effect on my mind since I am still as mentally fit as I was when I
attended the University of Toronto for the five-year criminology program in the
1960s.
Both my wife and I travel a great
deal around the world when I am giving speeches or for vacations and the
airlines always have a wheelchair for me on hand at the airports so that I
don’t have to walk the long distances in the airports to get to our plane.
Earlier in this month when we were about
to fly to Cuba for a vacation, Air Canada didn’t want me to climb the steep stairs
leading to the opening of their plane that was parked on the tarmac. They
brought a movable lift and raised my wife and me to the opening of the plane.
That didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was
what happened when we were inside the plane. A flight attendant took us past
the seats we purchased in the economy section and took us directly to the
business section. She told us that the airline wanted me to be able to stretch
my legs to its fullest. Being in the
business section had perks that we wouldn’t have had in the economy section.
When I was practicing law before I
retired at age seventy-three, I was the only person in the courtrooms who
didn’t have to rise when the judges entered the court rooms and I didn’t have
to rise when I was addressing the judges.
When I was invited to give a speech
to the graduating class of Vancouver College, the principal carried my food
tray for me so that I could concentrate on my walking (cane in hand) to the
head table.
To say that Cubans are kind to
handicapped persons is an understatement. I will give you several examples of
their kindness.
I had rented a motor scooter and
when I was driving on one of the highways, I decided to cross over to the
highway going in the opposite direction. In the process, the scooter tipped
over to my left and the scooter fell on my legs. Suddenly two cars (one in each
direction) stopped and the drivers ran to me and lifted the scooter off my legs
and helped me to the seat of the then uprighted scooter.
On another occasion, I was exiting a
Cuban bus at the middle of the bus when I accidentally tripped on the lower
step and fell on my knees. I then rolled over to my side so that I could pull
my legs to my side so that I could pull them from the area of the wheels of the
bus. Seconds later, two husky Cuban men lifted me to my feet. When I had difficulty getting into a bus,
Cuban men in the bus would leave their seats and assist me.
When my wife and I were swimming at
a beach in Rio de. Janeirio in 2010, I got knocked over by a wave close to the
shore. Because I can’t get to my feet if I am knocked over, I was in the
process of drowning when men on the beach saw me struggling to get up. They ran
into the water and pulled me to my feet and assisted me to the beach.
There are millions of people who are
very kind to others. I have been fortunate to be assisted by some of these kind
persons who assisted me when I needed their assistance.
As I said earlier, the perks are
nice but I would rather not be handicapped.
When I was in my twenties, I taught
gymnastics. I could do a backflip while lying on my back. Nowadays, all I can
do while lying on my back is roll over to my side.
When I was 42 years old, I climbed
up that deadly Swiss mountain, the Matterhorn. Part way up the mountain, after
looking at the clouds below us, I then looked upwards at the sky and said to a
fellow climber, “I think I am closer to God than I ever have been.” Now I am 86
years of age and handicapped and when I try to climb stairs; that is when I am really
closer to God than I have ever been.
My sincerest thanks to those kind
people who assisted me to my feet when I was in need of assistance and
especially to the four firemen who showed up unexpectently at my front door
with their bolt cutter.
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