First meat

I launched this blog yesterday and i started to think of my first post. Well, i need not have bothered. For, one of those events that happen every once in a while, to teach you a life-lesson, happened yesterday.
I was coming back from my workplace(as an intern) in Victoria Island and waited for the occasional bus to Ajah, the bus arrived early(unlike other days when i would wait forever and engage in a running and pushing competition to enter. Well, most times, i give up. There's no pushing some 'able-bodied' men o! ah! for my bodily safety and don't let me get started on the aggressive women). Yes, the bus arrived as soon as i exited my Company's building and stopped right in front of me. This was going to be a good evening! We had spent about thirty minutes on the road before i heard terrified gasps from the back(i was in the front seat). One woman was screaming: "blood of Jesus!! blood of Jesus!!!". Others were trying to get out of the bus by all means.There was commotion. I thought it was a fire. The bus had just passed the toll gate and we parked next to the Police men who stationed there. As i turned to have a better look(while opening my door in case i needed to flee), i saw what the commotion was about; a young man, maybe in his late twenties was having a seizure. His head was backward in an awkward angle and his arms and legs were stretched out stiffly before him. He was shaking vigorously whilst foam and what looked like water sipped through his lips. I knew i had seen this before. Some passengers had given themselves and the bus a reasonable distance, i knew they thought it was contagious or maybe a spiritual problem they didn't want(Nigerians!). I was a bit surprised, i had not seen a seizure as close up as this, i had witnessed from afar, read about it, read about what to do to someone having a fit, but never this up-close...and graphic. I started telling the terrified women not to shout, they needed to calm down, really.
There was this man though, he was sited next to him as well but he was not shouting and trying to get away. He was helping the man. He laid him down on the bus' floor and started to blow him. I told him we had to bring him outside for fresh air.
Another man was asking for water to pour on him. They poured it( i don't know if it worked) but he seemed better. We lay him on the ground there, waiting for him to come around. Some soldiers came around to see what was happening. One, a senior one, was saying nobody should pour water on him, that he would come around. He specifically warned that we gave him space, not because he needed fresh air but so we would not contract the disease,i nodded my head sadly. I knew this disease was hereditary, it could not be contracted by touching the person.
Well, one thing that shocked me was the kindness i saw yesterday. Ah! people can be kind. I was happy nobody even suggested we leave him there and continue our journey. We all waited for him like he was a brother we were used to. Some people went to sit on the gutter's edge, the driver and conductor made funny remarks about the women who were screaming earlier. The mood was generally good. Everyone felt like a hero, we knew we were doing the right thing.
We waited and waited, thinking the young man knew what was happening and would stand up soon....he had stopped convulsing and looked ok. But he was sleeping, sat up and was nodding. I tried to ask him if he could enter the bus, he just looked at me with distant eyes. The conductor eventually came and said: 'bros, you don ready?'(something like that) 'may we dey go nau' and he said; 'to where?', 'Ajah, na Ajah we dey go'. I then understood what i had missed; he had no memory of the event. When we reminded him of his destination, he looked round and saw people staring at him. Realization shone on his face and he stood up, looking a little embarrassed.
The bus was back on the road again and in serious holdup just a few metres in front of the toll gate. I started giving glory to God in my heart, the statement; 'health is wealth' should not be understated. Immense gratitude flooded me as it sunk in that all my daily petty worries can't be compared with a life of ill health. What if this guy was in  a bus with unmerciful people? Is it not to dump him by the roadside after removing all the valuables from his pocket? What if he was frying yam? Would he have poured the hot oil all over his body? I thank God for good health.
I learnt gratitude yesterday, renewed gratitude that most of my worries are filled with 'petty'  things.
I learnt that we all can be good, and kind, and merciful to total strangers. We all can be.