'Creating The Love': COMPASSION - isnt an OPTION

I want to discuss compassion in this article, as I am very disappointed in what I witnessed today and I feel as though I let a fellow human being down.

I returned to my car in an underground car park this afternoon, the car next to mine pulled out and I noticed a lady squatting down against the brick wall. At first I thought she was relieving her bladder. So I directed my son's to quickly get inside our car.

Then I noticed as I open my car door that she had a silver wine bladder next to her feet. This changed my mind in ignoring her, as I now realized that she was intoxicated and alone, without underwear on in an underground car park.
I thought my best option was to quickly walk back upstairs and seek to get some help from the centre management. We arrived at the help desk at the supermarket and I politely asked where I could find centre management. The answer was, there was no centre management at this particular complex. So the lady at the help desk advised me that she would notify the store manager and see if he could do anything.

I decided I had better go back and stay with the lady of concern. I returned to where my car was and she had gone. After a quick search, we found her not too far away and in a crawling position. I asked her if I could help her in anyway, or assist her by giving her a lift somewhere. She insisted that she was okay and to just leave her alone. I said, "I couldn't leave her on her own until help arrived". She kept on insisting I leave her, and I persisted in staying with her.

As I stayed with her I noticed she was dressed immaculately and her hair was also groomed to perfection, I wondered what on earth had led her to this state and felt so much compassion for her, so connected to her.

The Store Manager and a Security Guard, finally arrived. The security guard said, "Get up and move along or I will call the Police", the lady replied, "I will move along, I'm okay, please just leave me alone".

Obviously the lady could only crawl around on her hands and knees and had no real sense of where she was or what was happening. So the security guard said, "Listen lady you are a public nuisance and I'm calling the Police". With this both the manager and the security guard burst into laughter and the security guard snickered, "What an idiot". (Heartbreaking stuff). The security guard called the Police and then told myself and my son's to move along, as the Police were on their way to pick her up and we were not needed anymore.

I thought at least she will be in a safer situation with the Police, so we walked away. Then I suddenly had a niggling feeling that I should walk back around one more time and make sure that she wasn't left alone till the Police arrived.

When I walked back to the spot, she was gone and the two men were walking towards a lift without the lady,of concern. I knew the Police hadn't arrived. So where had she gone? I walked around again and my two son's helped also to try and locate her once again.

We were just about to give up when the security guard pulled up next to me in his car and said that she was okay and sitting around the corner. I asked him if anyone was with her and he said 'no'. I said, "What about duty of care, for someone that isn't capable of caring for themselves"? He shrugged his shoulders and said. "Not my problem lady". I said, "What if she was your sister or your mother, wouldn't you want someone to care for them if they needed assistance"? He just laughed and drove off.

By now, I felt heartbroken about trying to get her assistance from these people. They just simply didn't care. This lady, could hardly walk, was intoxicated, had no purse, and no underwear on. She was exposed and vulnerable to physical, sexual and verbal assault.

So once again we looked for her in the direction that the security guard pointed to, we couldn't see her anywhere. We walked around the block twice and noticed a Police car also going around and around the block also looking for her. My heart sank as I realized if the Police couldn't find her she had slipped away out of sight and was still vulnerable.

We looked for around an hour and couldn't find her anywhere, so the only thing I could do now was to pray that she would be protected and somehow find her way to safety.

As I finish writing this, the biggest message I received from this was that compassion is not an option, it is a must! We should see through situations, and remember that a precious human being, no matter the situation is still a precious human being. This article is dedicated to this precious lady that needed a helping hand, not to be laughed at, or dis-respected. I wish I could have done more for you.