Samaritans in the Era of Covid
Claudewell S. Thomas, MD, MPH, DLFAPA, is an established psychiatrist who is currently retired ,, He received his medical degree in 1956 at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and specializes in social psychiatry, public health psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Thomas was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry... more
Miami, Pennsylvania, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Los Angeles...the list of mass shootings, vehicular assault, etc. continues to grow. Car driving has become perilous because of the frequency of road rage. I attribute much of the mayhem to covid anxiety which can be part of the actual illness but most often is the result of too many of us being forced back to contemplate our relatively unencumbered selves. I have written about encountering good samaritans previously but this statement has a special place. After driving somewhat painfully to my wife's appointment, I decided to do some food shopping while I waited. Albertson's was immediately adjacent. I was surprised at how painful it was pushing the cart around. Nevertheless, I persisted, checked out, and started pushing the cart toward the car which was parked in a handicap space. The cart was heavy and clumsy.
Once outside a number of elderly, somewhat obese old men offered to help but I declined since they probably could have negotiated the parking lot no better than I. But as I approached the car feeling maximally exhausted and hurting, a commanding figure of a woman slightly shorter than I appeared blocking my now staggering path. "Leave it right there she commanded" I'll take it from here. I was surprised and instinctively wanted to say no I can make it. But I didn't, I left the cart and pointed out the car. Have you the trunk key she asked? No I have an autimatuc opener. "OK, I'll lift them in" she responded. When it was accomplished she said "I saw you pushing the cart in a manner THAT I HAD TO WHEN I WAS RECOVERING FROM A FALL WITH OUTSTRECHED ARMS AND DAMAGED MY SHOULDER AND HIP. I KNEW THAT YOU WERE IN TROUBLE." She was not a medical person but she had done government social work somewhere along the way. She had lost one husband and was struggling against the dementia of the latest but she took the time and energy to help. I don't remember her name it was something like Anya but thanks to people like her and the corpulent old-timers in the parking lot, there is hope that we can survive the evil and selfishness abuse of power privilege, and race status of the era of Trump.
