How I Saved a Child's Life Today and Nobody Saw

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After stopping by the local Chinese restaurant to pick up dinner and buying several tomatoes from a vendor by the bus stop, I jump on one of the buses, pay the busman, and settle into a seat. You should understand the buses are not really buses at all, but full size vans painted brightly, constantly blaring the same overplayed song that has been popular for the last two months. I take a seat by the sliding door. Soon afterwards, I greet Ethel (who I have sat next to on the bus several times before) and help her to her seat beside me. Then I help her make the correct change for the bus ride and hand it forward to the driver. After listening to the same song play all the way through once and begin again as we wait for the seats to fill, we finally pull out of the bus stop and are on our way.

Eventually the only people on the bus are Ethel and I, the driver, a few people all the way in the back seat on their cell phones, and in the seat in front of me there is a mother who occasionally hits her young child for a reason that I can’t understand. Soon the mother hollers at the bus driver to “Stay here!” and he pulls over by the side of the road. She opens the sliding door and begins negotiating payment with the driver who works on making change for a large bill. Unbeknownst to the mother, the two-year-old child has crawled past her on the seat and is standing in the door well, with her back facing the open door, clutching the edge of the seat to keep her balance. After receiving her change, the mother picks up her numerous bags from shopping and whirls around to check and see if she forgot any of her things. Her bags are headed straight for the child’s head, with the perfect trajectory to send the child flying backwards out the door and onto the concrete.

I quickly throw my food from my lap onto the seat beside me, grab the child and help her duck to miss the blow, and lift her down onto the sidewalk. She smiles up at me, enjoying being lifted high in the air and down onto the ground below. The mother, satisfied she has everything, turns around to get off the bus and sees the child on the sidewalk and just asks, “How did you get down there?” My mouth drops open, amazed that the mother has no idea that she nearly decapitated her toddler. I look behind me to see the passengers in the back are still engaged their cell phones and in front of me to see that the driver obviously didn’t observe any of the life threatening events that transpired. Then I look over at my friend Ethel, who feels the warmth of my Chinese food by her leg and asks, “Oh, are you bringing dinner home tonight?” Ethel has been blind her whole life. I let out a sigh and answer her, “Yes, I picked up some Chinese food.” I settle back into me seat, smile incredulously, and like everyone else on the bus, behave as if nothing unusual has happened.

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