Trust in strangers

Chris and Paul

Before I left on my journey I was advised by everyone to be careful of people, especially in the big, bad 'ol US.  I do realize there are some out there who do not have the best intentions but if you ever want restore your faith in people travel alone.

As you may already know I had a fainting spell last week. I stopped at All Computer Services in Highland Park, NY to get a virus on my laptop fixed. As they were working on it we chatted and I told Paul, the owner, all about my adventure and where I'm from. When my computer was fixed he refused to charge me, telling me I needed the money for my trip. In return I offered to buy him dinner. I was famished and would enjoy the company. On our way to eat we stopped at a friends place to invite them and stayed for a beer. I asked to use the washroom and just steps later I was down for the count. The rest of the story is through Paul's experience told to me.

When I came to about 15 seconds later I had no idea what happened or where I was. I was screaming my name and where I'm from, over and over. Everyone from inside the house came out to see what was going on. All strangers to me. No one there knows anything about me except for what I told Paul during our small talk. They put me on my side with a sweater under my head while they tried to calm me down and find out what had happened. They find all the pieces of my broken glasses, get me into a car and Paul's friend drives us to the emergency. There I am asked questions he has to answer. I don't have my purse, no identification, no money.  I signed a form with the nurses help, agreeing to let them do whatever they needed to do to make sure I'm okay. Released with a concussion and a broken nose, I am taken to Paul's place. My memory picks up here.

Thanks to Paul my memory was restore by him answering my repeating questions over and over. If it wasn't for him knowing the answers I'm not sure what would have happened. For the next 4 days he waited on me hand and foot at his place and when at the shop Chris kept me company. These two people are amazing and I owe them a lot. The accident was scary but it could have been so much worse had I been with other people. They deserve to have a post dedicated to them, so here it is.

I had posted earlier that I need to learn to slow down but this isn't what I meant. I'm not a spiritual person but if I was to get anything from this I would say the universe told me to take it easy. I would have understood a more gentle message though. Next time you can be more subtle Mr./Mrs Universe.