Right Place, Right Time

I stopped by the Michael’s Craft Store in Biddeford today to pick up some items for Christmas. As I was getting out of my vehicle, I heard someone gasp. I looked in the direction of the sound and I saw an elderly woman walking towards another woman who was on the ground. The woman on the ground was trying to get up but was struggling. She was a fairly large woman, probably in her 50’s, and was on her knees trying to pull herself back up again but with her weight and age, wasn’t quite making it.

I hustled over as quickly as possible and I grabbed her arm and held her steady while gently, but firmly, lifting her. With that assistance she was able to stand up again. I asked her if she was alright and she said she was fine. I pointed out that she landed on her knees and was she sure she was alright. She said she was fine and thanked me for helping her. She said she had tripped on the curb because she didn’t see that it was a curb and not the ramp.

You see, Michael’s has a design flaw in their entrance to their store. They have the usual ramp in front of the door so people can push carts or wheel chairs easily in and out of the store. The ramp is painted red to indicate where it is sloped so people know where to go. But, and here is the design flaw, they painted the cement red beyond where the actual ramp is locate. So for about a foot on either side of the ramp, where there is actually a step, it is also painted red.

This woman, the one who fell, saw the red cement and rightly assumed that it was the ramp and didn’t bother to lift her foot to step up. She tripped and landed on her knees. Luckily that is all that happened. She could have banged her head on the large cement pillar next to where she fell. If she had been confined to a wheelchair and coming out of the store, she could have rode her wheelchair over the curb part instead of the ramp and fallen out of her chair. Although all she did was fall to her knees, I am guessing that, since she landed on her knees so hard, she is probably going to be pretty sore tomorrow.

I e-mailed the store to let them know what happened. Hopefully they will get the curb fixed (as in – not painted red) so that other people, such as myself, will not make the same mistake. If they can’t get the paint off the cement, since it might not be paint but dyed cement, they could put a little post on either side of the ramp to indicate where it is located.

I was thinking about what would have happened if I had not arrived at the store at that particular moment. The elderly woman who saw what happened certainly didn’t have the strength to help the woman on the ground. She would have had to go back into the store to get help. That might have really embarrassed the woman who fell because bunches of people may have come out to see what was happening. Not to mention that in an effort not to be sued, the store might have insisted on calling an ambulance to have her checked out.

Since the elderly woman and myself are the only ones who know what happened, other than the woman who fell, she not only was able to get back up without a bunch of brouhaha but also was able to preserve some of her dignity.  I feel blessed that I was in the right place at the right time!