a reason to believe in karma

This afternoon a kid jaywalked across West 41^st Avenue and ran in front of a bus. He continued up the street and to whatever Justin Beiber concert/skate park/ iPhone convention he was on his way to. Back inside the bus an older woman is sprawled out face down on the ground and can’t get up. An elderly man is on his knees with his head on the seat. And a 13-year-old girl has blood gushing down her face. When the bus stopped to avoid the kid on the road, it had to stop that suddenly that everyone in the bus was thrown forward. I didn’t have a seat in front of me so the momentum just pushed me onto my feet and I ran a couple of steps. I helped up the woman on the floor and then took some tissues over to the girl. She looked about my age and it wasn’t until she gave her age to the bus drive that I realised how young she was. Helen had hit her head, mainly her nose, pretty hard on part of the bus when it stopped. She had blood coming out of her nose and dripping onto her clothes and the seat. Not surprisingly, she was a little shaky. I sat with her while the bus driver called for help. The other passengers transferred onto another bus, but I stayed with Helen. She was travelling by herself, covered with blood, and really shaken up. She was handling it better than I would, but I figured I’d hate to be alone so I waited with her. The driver said an ambulance was on its way so I called Helen’s mum who said she’d come meet us. When the ambulance got there first and took Helen to the Children’s Hospital, I went with her until her mum arrived.  

Helen starts Grade 8 next week, which is the first year of senior school in Canada. What a way to spend the last days of holidays: stuck in a hospital with blood down your top waiting to find out if your nose is broken. By contrast, that kid who ran across the road had no idea of what he’d done. I’m not a big believer in karma, but today I sided with those who are.

I walked out of the Children’s Hospital only to realise I had absolutely no idea where I was. Luckily I recognised one of the street signs (the benefit of walking everywhere is you find a lot of things) and found I wasn’t too far from home. I was exhausted so I curled up with Judi Dench’s autobiography and had a little nap.