Hey there!
I previously wrote about helping others and why some people don’t require help and that doesn’t define any trauma it’s just their personal choice. Well, I was travelling back home for summers 2 two months back and met two people who really proved my point.
I had to empty my current hostel as I would be shifting to the new one after summers. I had an insane amount of luggage for a single female to be travelling alone by bus so technically I was mentally prepared to carry all that stuff using my hands and drag the trolley ones. I ordered a cab when my resident tutor called me in her office to write my hostel withdrawal application. Luckily I had called my best friend to help me bring the luggage down from the top floor. I had no idea she had set everything up in the cab too. I was expecting the driver would help us considering he was a man aged between 35-40 so he could easily set the things in his car but he didn’t even bother coming out of his car. I was angry at my friend as she could have waited for me and we were having our goodbyes when the driver honked at us to be quick. That felt rude, maybe because I hardly took a minute in greeting her. I sat in the car and asked the driver to stop near a café as I was travelling at night so it’s always safe to keep some food with you. He seemed so frustrated but I didn’t pay attention. I did however took notice and ran inside and rushed out with food. Then I asked him to stop near the ATM because I spent my last few rupees on the snacks (I always keep a lot of money while travelling at night just for safety). He started saying that when he drove Careem which is also a form of Uber, nobody would do mid journey stops as this would increase the route charges. I told him I didn’t have any money even to pay him so I needed to go. I then ran inside and again rushed back to the cab. When we reached the gate of my university and passed the guards the man again started growling about how people were more cautious when ordering a Careem. I was baffled. In our culture, chivalry is maintained especially when you know that a female is travelling or shopping alone. I rebuked by saying that me and my friend are the age of his daughters, if anything he should have helped her put the luggage inside the car. Let’s say he couldn’t do that due to any issues, he could at least not have given me lectures of the Careem passengers. The cab I ordered was Indrive and I ordered it for this very reason because they don’t charge on waiting. If there’s a service I’m definitely going to avail it as I’m a student who has to manage her expenses. And if he was this much fond of Careem why did he leave that service? Why was he driving Indrive now? I didn’t break any rule. In fact I’m a university student travelling alone to another city with this much luggage because I didn’t want to bother my father who has diabetes to come get me. I didn’t even ask him to help me and there he is, can’t even stop his car for a few minutes. He changed the mood and talked about something else but I didn’t reply. Then he taunted me saying do you even know where you are going…. I was super annoyed but had no choice except to remain quiet through the journey. When we reached the bus terminal he offered to take out the luggage and I agreed because this is the least he could have done after that terrible cab ride. He just put the luggage on the floor near the gate. I still had to take the luggage inside the sitting area which was half a meter far. He again offered me to take the things inside but I couldn’t bear so I declined. He rushed his car while a security guard there saw this whole scene. He asked me if someone was there to escort me and then picked up half the luggage and helped me take it inside. I got my ticket and waited for my bus. When the bus arrived, I started putting my luggage outside one by one. Miraculously, that very guard entered the sitting lounge that very second and took half the luggage in one go. He looked like a poor man and was quite old too but very strong. I wanted to compensate by tipping him but he vanished somewhere and my bus was about to leave so I sat on my seat.
I have been travelling on this bus service for about 2 years but had never seen this guard before. But that very day he was really active and being called here and there for work and he still took out time to carry my luggage. That day I learned two important lessons; one, we should try to be nice to everyone regardless of expecting any favor from them, and two, never lose hope in God’s help!
Have a nice day!