For the most part I think that most people want to do good and very few people are truly evil. Today, I saw that humanity firsthand and I was again reassured that I have the right views of people.
During a bike ride from Carlsbad up to Oceanside with Leonie, I was having trouble with my ability to unclip at stop signs. The first time I fell, it was legitimately my fault - I failed to judge how long we'd be at the stop sign (I thought we'd be able to breeze through with a quick pause), and when another truck was coming, I just sort of tipped over to the left for a very ungraceful landing! I got back up and we kept going, but I didn't check to make sure my shoes and pedals were okay. As we went through Oceanside, there were several stop signs and when we got to an intersection where I needed to unclip, I tried desperately to get out of my pedals, but something was stuck! Again, I tipped over to the left, but my foot was still stuck! (Turned out that my pedal clip had actually lost a bolt and cracked!)
I had the misfortune of falling in FRONT of a truck whose driver may or may not have seen me go down. With my head just a few feet from his front right tire, I was in a pretty bad position. Suddenly, this older gentleman came running up, shouting at the driver and passenger in the truck that there was a rider down and not to move forward...pretty much saving me from getting my head crushed!
After I finally got my shoe unclipped and off to the side of the road, I realized that the gentleman who had gotten the attention of the driver was homeless. He had some possessions in a plastic grocery bag, which included some juice, a book about God's love, a blanket and maybe a few other things. I would be willing to bet that he had some mental disorder, but all the same, he did everything he could to help. First he asked me if I wanted any juice, because I may need to keep up my blood sugar. Then, when he saw that I was bleeding, he pulled out his blanket and offered to wipe up my knee! He tried to give Leonie and me his book so that we could pass along the message, but we politely declined it.
I don't need any book to pass along his message though - be kind to others. If you can help someone in need, do so. The smallest act of kindness goes a long way.
His willingness and eagerness to help and to possibly share with me the few possessions he has in this world amazes me! Though my faith in humanity wasn't ever really waning, I'd say that this morning's encounter helped reaffirm it!
