Heroes in our Midst

Our journey so far has been adventurous and brought to light heroes in our midst.  When a passenger waiting for a CitiLink bus passed out and hit his head on the ground, Lisa, our chaperone, and Jessica H., one of our students, ran to his aid.  They took care of him until the ambulance arrived.  Heroes.

After our bus finally arrived, 20 minutes late, and we were able to board it 10 minutes later, we discovered the bus had no heat.  Had the only effect of the lack of heat been the inconvenience of being cold on a two hour bus ride, though we complained about it a bit (okay, a lot), it would have amounted to nothing more than a minor blip on the radar of travel incidents.  However, the bus having no heat had a far more sinister effect, the fogging up of the windshield.  Unbeknownst to us, until the driver pulled off onto the shoulder of I-74, the windshield was so badly fogged that the driver could not see well enough to safely drive the bus.  Once on the side of the road, the driver retrieved some paper towel from an overhead bin and wiped down the inside of the windshield.  She got the bus back on the road, but continued to wipe down the inside of the window while driving.  Megan, one of our students, not knowing if she would be scolded by the driver for doing so, bravely walked to the front of the bus and asked the driver if she could help the driver by wiping the windshield for her.  The driver agreed and thanked her.  For the next half of an hour, Megan kept the windshield as clean as possible, so we could arrive safely and on time to catch our train.  Hero.

I cannot say that I am surprised by our heroes actions.  After all, everyone on this trip is a teacher, a nurse,  a nurse in training, or a combination thereof, which means we are all caretakers.  Our calling, whether in the classroom or the emergency room, is to help others.  I feel extremely privileged to be traveling in their company.