Tonight at the store, an old woman was walking her dog. As she walked by my son and I at the Redbox, her dog tangled up her legs, and she fell to the groung, first hitting her knees then her elbow, then her mouth and forehead on the sidewalk.

As she laid on the sidewalk, I tried to get her some help, not knowing if she would want me to call 911, or to call family or what. I finally got her phone from her, and was able to call her grandson and her son to come get her. She was a Persian woman, and after a nasty face first fall was very difficult to understand. She definitely did not want the paramedics there.

In the mean time, a number of people came up to see what the fuss was; the the store staff, and drive-by doctor, and some other rubber neckers. The doctor was helpful, as he got her sitting up, and the store staff got her some towels and such. While I waited for the son and grandson to show up, my job then became to fend off the rubber-neckers and keep them from calling the paramedics. The doctor had it dialed up, but then decided against it, once he saw she was soemwhat lucid, and the thought of calling 911 was making her up set. One guy really liked talking to me about how she might not have insurance, could be an illegal, or maybe we should just call them. Then another woman with a load of groceries came out who seemed to need all of her questions answered to make sure that the 5 people assisting her new that there were people called paramedics that we could call.

I finally decided that if these people all wanted to call the paramedics, that I would be more than happy for them to call, so I started telling them to please do so should they feel so compelled, but then no one did. Finally the son and grandson showed up and took her to the hospital. I hope she is ok, but it was a really wierd evening....