The other side of the street

Every morning, I walk up the hill to Hebron Road to catch the bus to the university. While waiting for the bus, I looked across the street today and realized that the people whom I see standing there every morning are not just slightly odd, as I first thought, but mentally and physically disabled.

Today I noticed that there were a group of them standing there when I first arrived, but then a small bus came and picked them up. As I watched, I saw a man bringing out people from the house across the street one by one and seating them on benches next to the street. He was obviously a caretaker, and was helping the people walk out of the house to wait for the next bus.

I found myself thinking that to do work like that must require a lot of patience and a person with deep compassion, someone who really cares about people. I kept wondering if I would be able to do work like that, and admiring this man for doing it.

I was watching him lead one of the people out of the house and along the bench to the next open seat. He would hold both hands of the person and walk backward to help this person walk forward (which was obviously very difficult for this person). One of the other people, who was already sitting on the end of a bench, had put her walker in front of herself, and as the man backed up, he bumped into it. He picked the walker up, threw it roughly around to the side of the bench so he could continue to lead the person forward. As soon as he went back towards the house, the woman put her walker in front of herself again, and looked very angry (in a disturbed kind of way).

The man came out of the house again leading another person and walking backwards as before. This time, when he bumped into the walker, he literally threw it to the side of the bench and said something to the woman. The woman looked more angry, and the man didn't look very calm himself. He went back into the house and she moved the walker back in front of herself again.

And then my bus came.

I feel like there should be some sort of profound message in the little scene that I witnessed, but I'm not sure what it is. I guess it's probably a simple one that even when people are doing good work that requires caring and patience, they are still people.