When it's too late to be kind

About a month ago, I experienced something so uncanny it left me stunned for the rest of the day. I've hesitated to share it, simply because of how grim it is.

About a month ago, on a wet Tuesday morning. I was on a bus on my way to work as usual. Running a little late, but nothing I haven't pulled off before. My mind wasn't exactly clear nor full. Just buzzing with that usual morning haze where you're awake, but mentally still half asleep, tucked under your warm bedsheets. I don't remember the particular song I was listening to, but I know it wasn't a good one. One of the songs you liked a week ago, but overplayed to such an extent, you now hate it with passion. Though, for some reason, you won't pull out of your playlist. Maybe it's the fond memories you hold. The times when you could (and did) listen to that song 10 times on repeat.

I wasn't bothered enough to change it, so I just kept standing there, letting it slowly drill into my mind like a rusty drill laced with tetanus that should have been thrown away a long time ago. 2 stops away from my work, an annoying voice started to creep into my ears. A woman in her early 40s got on the bus with her 10-year-old daughter. She was already annoyed. I don't believe it was because of anything her daughter had done. The woman just seemed like someone for whom nothing had gone right that morning — and now she was late on top of it.

What caught my attention was the endless slew of patronizing and vocal expression of dissatisfaction towards her daughter. "Stop picking your nose", "Don't touch the handle like that", "Your shoelace is untied", "I don't have time for all your stupid questions". Sentences like this kept rolling off her tongue non-stop. Each worse than the previous one. Filled with so much negativity and displeasure. Generally, I'm not a reactive person. I don't introduce myself to other people's business. I don't pick up loose change from the ground. I don't tell people their backpack is wide open. I'm just an observer... That morning, though, I had an unexplainable urge to speak up.

"Just don't forget who will be the one choosing your nursing home when you are old, helpless, and pissing yourself just like she is right now."

Something along those lines is what I wanted to tell her. I opened my mouth, but something stopped me cold. I saw a vision in front of me. Clear as day... just as if I were there, and it was actually happening.

The mother was kneeling next to a hospital bed with her daughter hooked up to an IV and a heartbeat monitor. She was crying and apologizing profusely. Begging god to bring her back to health. It was too late. Her daughter succumbed to cancer on her 18th birthday.

They got off at the next stop and so did I. We went our separate ways. I went to work like nothing insane had just happened.