“Move it! I took it first!” The consistent arguing reverberated throughout the supermarket. The never-ending aisles of food were empty except a few items left on the shelves. The pandemic was worsening and shoppers had started panic-buying since the week before, their trolleys filled to the brim. Fatigue overwhelmed me as I packed up, ready to leave after a long shift.
Just then, I noticed an old and frail man in the sea of shoppers. He stood transfixed in the middle of the aisle with a blank expression, his lost eyes glancing around. He held his metal zimmer frame tightly as he seemed to be figuring out where to go. All of a sudden, one of the shoppers hurried past him and knocked his walking frame to the ground. The nonchalant shopper then continued walking without giving the old man another glance. Without the support of his walking frame, the helpless octogenarian started wobbling unsteadily. He flailed his arms in the air trying to find his balance but to no avail. He tumbled to the cold, hard marble floor, his bones groaning in protest. Letting out a moan, the poor man could not pick himself up. None of the shoppers stepped up to help him, their eyes crinkling in disgust. Then, the situation worsened.
A shopper shouted, “They are restocking the toilet paper! First come first served!” Hearing the announcement, everybody rushed to get it and they formed a stampede of shoppers.
Just before the old man got run over by a trolley, panic gripped me and I bolted over just in time to stop this disaster. Escaping the stampede, I hurriedly helped him up to the side and pulled the zimmer frame towards him. Still in a state of confusion, the old man took a minute to process everything. A huge sigh of relief escaped from my lips as realisation dawned on me that I had saved him from being run over.
Tears of gratitude welled up in his eyes as he thanked me, “Thank you, young man. Teenagers like you are hard to find nowadays.” Hearing the praise, I grinned as I helped the old man out of the supermarket and watched him amble away on his way home.
This incident would forever be engraved in my mind like a scar. I hope that more people can pass on this kindness and consideration to others.
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