So the kids wanted to have a Garage Sale and sell a bunch of the toys they never play with anymore. I suppose a more appropriate title would be Yard Sale, as we don’t have a garage. Regardless, today was the day after months of choosing which toys would go. My job was to move the bags of toys, as well as the too-small for them now bikes, to the front yard, get the tarps out, and go hang the signs around our block and area.
It was on my sign hanging on telephone poles task that I almost ran over someone. There is a now defunct hair salon a few blocks away, and a good spot to hand garage sale signs, if all the old nails hammered into the pole are any indication. There are two drives, and I was just turning into the first when I slammed on the brakes. Laying half in the street and drive was a man, dressed in dark messy clothes, a Camouflage jacket, and a black winter skullcap.
The reason I did not see him is that the driveway is lower than the street, so there is a slight indentation that he was almost completely hidden it. So I pulled into the second drive, got out, and checked on the guy.
He was shaking, mumbling to himself. Incoherent. I called 911 on my cell phone and got the ball rolling.
That done, I knelt down and asked if he was okay. His eyes were distant, cloudy. I asked if he was okay again, no response. I got closer to his face, got his attention, told him to focus on me. He did. I asked if he wanted to sit up, get out of the street. He said yes, so I helped him to his feet.
I had seen him before and thought him homeless. About my height, though very skinny. His skin black, but an unhealthy pale to it. I figured he was simply drunk or having some sort of seizure. I was right in the second, it was a seizure.
Once on his feet, he seemed more alive. Alert. He was very focused on me. I kept talking to him as I slowly walked him back to the grass of the house next door. Shaky legs, weak hands holding as tightly as he could to mine. I kept up the conversation.
Once in the grass, a neighbor came out to ask me if everything was okay. It was then that I shifted my focus to the neighbor, telling him that I had called 911 so someone was on the way. Once my focus was off the man, he crumpled back to the ground, this time safely in grass. He went down slowly, and I could not stop him.
The police arrived seconds later. I told the officer what had happened, how I found him, and that I have moved him to the grass.
I left to finish my Garage Sale signs, and drove by ten minutes later to see an ambulance and Fire and Rescue on the scene.
The Garage Sale, so far, is going fine. Few customers for the kids yet, but they have made about twenty bucks, a lot of money for a nine and ten year old. I can already see them spending the money in their heads.
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