Brakes And Breaks

I was sitting at one of Long Beach’s trendy coffee shops facing the street when I see a puppy get run over by a massive box truck.  The puppy seems to have gotten away from his owner.  The manner in which the puppy ran away with its leash attached looks like something had scared it.  The box truck came to a quick halt perhaps due to the screaming of the dog owner and onlookers.  Behind the two tall rear right tires I see the dog writhing in pain and shock. 

I get up and go outside to see if I could help in any way.  I can see the puppy’s front right leg is broken with bone exposed and some bright red blood spilt on the ground.  The rest of the body seems to be in order.  There is no blood coming from the mouth and the animal is quite calm now.  The lady owner is crying and running back and forth between her chair outside on the sidewalk and the puppy in the street. 

I notice a man with a heavy accent leading the effort in comforting the dog and asking for specifics like towels, water and for the nearest animal hospital.  I tell the dog owner that it seems the animal will be okay as there doesn’t seem to be any body or head trauma.

At the end of all the drama, I thanked the gentleman who was quick to think, act and exude leadership.  Instead of identifying where I suppose he could be from, I’ll simply say he wasn’t a natural born citizen.  His help spoke against the manner which media dehumanizes foreigners and how viewers easily follow that train of thought.   He was glad to hear my acknowledgements and I was happy to have mentioned it.