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March 20, 2004
to the rescue!
sometime last week during my lunch hour, i went for a walk. on my way to the bank, i witnessed an old lady fall to the ground. i quickly ran to the rescue.
'here i come to save the day!'
half a second away from the old lady, i'm quickly reminded of the last time i ran into the same exact scenario about a year ago. funny enough, i was walking on queen street with greek boy. since he's in the health/medical profession, he warns me that in situations like these to keep my interference to a minimum. i couldn't believe it, but greek boy was serious. it left an imprint on my mind.
if, hypothetically, the old woman dislocates her shoulder or breaks a bone due to the fall, and i, with my good intentions, make her condition worse by helping her up, i am liable. i can be sued. yes, only in north america would this happen.
so by the time i reached the old woman sitting on the ground, i was cautious. i see that she is a bit frazzled. but, when i asked if she was okay, she was smiling. i take it that she seemed pleased a fellow citizen was concerned. she's trying to compose herself. instead of offering my hand to help her on her feet, i talked around the situation to survey the scene. the old lady seemed to have tripped on a loose concrete block.
perhaps street kids were around destroying public property. since i wasn't helping the woman get up, i might as well fix the source of the problem and stop any other individual from tripping on the same concrete block. getting my hands dirty, the block plopped back into place easily.
but just as easily was water and mud gushing into the old woman's face when the block fell.
'here i come to ruin the day!'
needless to say, i was extremely embarrassed. i'm trying to help the woman, but i make things worse. i don't have any tissue to wipe off the dirt on her glasses either. i apologize profusely, and again she's smiling. i think she's just happy i'm there to help.
this time, i extend my hand to the old woman. i crouch over to the ground, and then... we get up together.
i should've done this in the first place.
movie: 'goodbye, lenin!' [ movie site ] i went to an advanced screening of this movie last night. the film is in german (with english subtitles), broke boxoffice records and is the biggest film in germany ever. it also won best film in the german equivalent of the oscars.
i really enjoyed the film. i can see how germans would have a great affection for this movie, "ostalgia". but what i really enjoyed about the film is it's avoidance in being overly sentimental. also, without getting into the plot, the movie is smart enough to recognize that there are certain things in the film that do not have to be spelled out because the audience is smart too... unlike certain hollywood films. 3.5 stars out of four.
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