The kindness of strangers

I was walking back through Richmond just now on my way back to the agency from Waterstone's. The sun was shining, Joni Mitchell was playing on my iPOD and I was in a world of my own (my usual state when walking).

I happened to look up at one point and there was a huddle of worried-looking people at a road junction. A scooter was on its side. And a man was lying on the ground in the middle of the junction. The top half of his torso and his head were hidden in a swaddle of people's coats. He wasn't moving.

I wondered if there was anything I could do to help, but there were already 4 or 5 people by his side, I automatically assumed one of them would have called 999. I have no medical training. And if there's one thing I hate, it's people who just hang around and gawp at accidents. Like vultures.

So I walked on, but it upset me. Although it made me think that most of us have at least some element of basic human kindness within us. I daresay the people who were helping him didn't know him, but they stopped. They covered him with their coats to keep him warm, and waited with him until the paramedic arrived (who pulled up just after I passed). I don't know him either but I hope he is OK.

For some reason I keep getting a picture in my head of how shiny his shoes were.