Last week I shared a video on Facebook about a bus driver who stopped in the middle of the road after seeing a woman clinging to a an overpass railing. He open the bus door and shouted, "Hey! Are you okay?" The woman looked back but did not answer. He proceeded to park the bus, get off, and go talk to her. After a short moment, he grabbed her arm preventing her from leaping into the lanes of traffic below. She climbed back over the railing to safety. The driver sat down on the sidewalk (that several onlookers had just walked on by the distressed woman) and talked it out with the woman. After the ordeal, the driver got back on his bus and was met with applause from the passengers.
Feel-good videos like that restore my faith in humanity. Earlier that day I heard about the shooter at LAX, so it was refreshing to see that there are still good people in the world after such a violent act.
So today, I'm taking my daily cruise on MSN, and I see a video about this bus driver. He has been showered with gifts and best of all, Donald Trump sent him a big fat check for $10K. As if saving this woman's life wasn't "gift" enough, it made me happy to know that this man has been honored for his actions that day. In the original video, I watched a handful of people walk by this woman (seriously, they were within 2 feet of her) and not give her a second glance.
I took a class one summer at UNL; Sociology. It was a great class, extremely though-provoking. It reminded me a lot of the show on ABC "What would you do?" We talked about the school shooting at Columbine and other extreme situations similar to that where you have to make a decision. If you were asked, "Do you believe in God?" and you were a Christian, what would you say? Would you say yes? Would you say no? I know what I think I would say, but unless I'm actually in that situation, it's hard to say what I would really do. I think that goes for everyone. You can tell me until you're blue in the face what you "would do" but until you're in whatever situation it is, you can't possibly know for sure what you would do.
I'm just glad the bus driver made the decision he did that day. He could have kept on driving his bus route. Instead, he made a choice. Not the right choice or wrong choice. His choice.
-S
