Woman’s Chance Encounter With A Stranger On The Train Is The Most Important Thread On Twitter Right Now

Asking for help from other people, especially strangers, is hard—so hard, in fact, that many of us would never consider doing it. But for some people, that’s simply not an option. They need to rely on the kindness of strangers to get through each and every day.

Recently, a woman named Erynn Brook shared a story on Twitter about how a stranger suffering from epilepsy asked for her help during a train ride because she was just about to have a seizure.

Brook, who said she wrote the thread as a way to process her feelings about the incident (and also because she was anxiously awaiting ultrasound results for her sick cat), described how the young woman approached her with a piece of laminated paper titled “my seizure plan.”

The point of Brook’s story is not that she’s a compassionate person (although she very clearly is), it’s about a society that doesn’t make things easy for people with disabilities. Most of us have no idea, and will never have any idea, the kind of struggles that some people endure.

Brook reflected on the ways that we’ve been conditioned to just dial 911 when someone needs help, and think that’s enough. Sometimes it is, of course, but other times it could just exacerbate the situation.

She pointed out the horrible fact that people with disabilities are more at risk for all sorts of violent crimes. Just think of the woman seizingand how, if there were nobody to look out for her, she’d be completely vulnerable one to four times every day.

Brook writes that merely accommodating someone in need is “not good enough.”

And she made sure to retweet a person who reached out to share that, in some cases, 911 is still absolutely the best resource.

By the way, the cat is fine!

Brook’s last bit of advice was for people to follow disabled folks on Twitter (she suggests searching the hashtag “AbledsAreWeird).

If we all took more time to look out for each other, the world could be a much better place.

h/t: Twitter: ErynnBrook