Who Am I?

(long post warning)
I still haven't completed the 7 meme yet, but something else happened to stir up old memories and reawaken me to myself.

On Saturday morning, an accident happened at the junction of Ulu Pandan Road and Clementi Road. An automobilist was turning from the latter into the former and hit a cyclist rather hard. I know because I was listening to the radio in my car and heard a thud and thought "That's not part of the song." I also know because I saw a bit of bone sticking out from the cyclist's leg later as she was helped to the side of the road.

Me, I called the ambulance. Another guy moved the bicycle off the road so it wouldn't obstruct traffic. A few minutes later someone from the nearby Police camp came out with a First Aid Kit. So all was as well as it could be in the circumstances. Amazing how people just do things without being asked.

The title of this post is such because the last time I was this close to an accident I was on a bus and saw an injured motorcyclist by the side of the road. For some reason I immediately pressed the button to alight, got off at the next stop, and went over to see if I could help. I ended up helping to bandage the guy's head (yes he was bleeding quite badly) and getting my hands all bloody in the process. The ambulance came soon enough and they took him away. I hope he's still alive today.

So there I was with blood on my hands. It didn't occur to me to go to the nearby condo and ask to use the toilet. I think getting that close to an accident kinda stunned me for a bit. So I got on the next bus (trying not to get too much blood on my TransitLink card (yes it was that long ago)) and kinda held my hands away from everything and carried on to my friend's place (where I was going initially). It wasn't too messy because the blood was already drying, but I was trying very hard to look inconspicuous since I'd never had blood on my hands in public before.

Upon arrival at my friend's place I was greeted by another friend who gave me a hug but I couldn't reciprocate and just said, "I have blood on my hands." I hope I never have to say that again (except maybe in a play). Oh, and elbows are wonderful things if you know how to use them.

And all this got me wondering about why I stopped then, 13 years ago, (going out of my way) to help someone, and why I stopped on Saturday to help the cyclist, and where the hell I've been in between.