If you’ve never experienced the delights of New York City in the height of summer, I would argue that you don’t really know what it means to be hot, sweaty and still smiling. Stickiness just becomes the normal state of being and ‘the humidity’ becomes the most talked about subject until fall begins to ease itself in towards the end of September. Subways turn into cavernous ovens where the general public all spend far longer than their liking waiting for the next train to arrive, each gust of wind or breath of air feeling like a hair dryer is being blasted in your face. When the carriage doors open, there is a rush of pedestrians to escape into the air conditioned car, collectively breathing a sign of relief.There are times, however, when the air conditioning breaks or the cars are so full of bodies that the cold air trying its best to circulate doesn’t stand a chance against the combined body heat. Those are the occasions when I have to take plenty of deep breaths and intercede for the miracle of a quicker arrival at my destination!
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After waiting for twenty minutes in the furnace of 14th St station, my train finally crept in to a halt, the doors opening to a warm and empty carriage. I gratefully secured a seat near one of the doors and resigned myself to further waiting as the train got momentarily held in the station, all the while hot air packing itself into the space around me.Some fifteen minutes later and the train was rolling into 42nd St, soon every remaining seat and inch of standing space quickly taken. A transgender woman came and took the vacant seat to my right, giving me a warm, if not a very heavily intoxicated smile, as she did so. I smiled in return, temporarily distracted by texting my husband whilst I had signal.“Mucho caliente!” My new neighbour began fanning herself with her hands, smiling as she did so, droplets of sweat beginning to form around the outskirts of her face.“Si!” I affirmed her declaration and pressed send on my message.“You are Russian?”I gave her my full attention, “No, English”, I said with a smile.As the train carried us on to the next station, I engaged in a rather simple conversation with my new friend about the different languages she spoke which would be regularly interspersed with exclamations of, “Mucho caliente!”Two stops later and a couple jumped into our carriage moments before the doors closed. The lady immediately groaned as she felt the heat encircle her. Within minutes of pushing out of the station, she had crouched onto the floor panting for breath, her boyfriend trying to help her calm down.“Would you like my seat?” I stood up and gestured to the now empty spot as I gathered my belongings together.“Thank you!” The boyfriend accepted my offer gratefully and reached down to help his girlfriend to her feet.“Here, have some water too”, I reached into my bag and pulled out a bottle.As this transaction was talking place to my left, I suddenly saw the now-limp body of my neighbour fall forward and crash to the floor at my feet. Within seconds there were two collapsed bodies at my feet.“Press the emergency button!” Someone shouted from just next to me.We pulled into the next station.“Get her off the train!” Another voice called as the doors slid open.I helped drag the limp body onto the platform, dumping my bags next to her as I began assessing for signs of life and finding ways to cool her down. The couple also escaped from the overheated train at the same time, the boyfriend carrying his love outside to the slightly cooler night air, her arms and legs swinging as he cradled her.Life returned to the lady next to me on the platform as her eyelids fluttered open and she began to writhe on the concrete floor. I took her hand firmly in mine and began stroking her head, pouring water into her hair to help relieve her temperature, whispering peace into her ears as I did so. She stilled again and fell unconscious.Another concerned passenger stood across from us speaking to emergency services on the phone. A crowd gathered at a respectful distance.Soon two cops in blue joined the tableau at the platform edge, their presence bringing an air of safety and authority to the situation. I continued to hold my patient’s hand and fan her face as she slipped in and out of consciousness.It wasn’t long before the scene was flooded with more officers in blue as well as paramedics. I relinquished her hand to that of a medic who quickly took charge of the situation and affixed an oxygen mask to her face. I joined the group stationed at a respectful distance, answering questions when needed but keeping my focus on my subway neighbour.Eventually she regained full consciousness and sat up with the aid of a paramedic, trying to answer his questions whilst hiding her face behind embarrassed hands. It transpired that drugs, which she had taken earlier that evening, combined with an asthma attack, had been the cause of her collapse. After a few minutes of this interaction, she then suddenly looked up at the small crowd observing her and searched the faces briefly before locking eyes with mine. A brilliant smile spread across her face in childlike thankfulness and she raised a hand to form the thumbs up sign, in greeting and acknowledgement of my presence. I gave her a thumbs up in return, my mouth spreading into a wide grin.It was a brief exchange in the middle of a scene of drama, down in a hot and humid subway station on the west side of Manhattan, but it caught the attention of my heart as I recognized the impact that being seen and valued by another human being has on an individual.When we live with an internal standard and value for honour, we are able to encounter each person with love even if they look different, sound different and live differently to us. We are able to be people of peace in the midst of chaos.A verse was recently highlighted to me and I think it sums up simply and perfectly the point of me sharing this story:
“Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for His purposes.”
Ephesians 5:16 (The Passion Translation)
Let’s not miss a moment, an opportunity, to show people honour, to show them love and bring peace to the atmosphere around us.
