One Thousand And One. One Thousand And Two. One Thousand And…

Ginny and I sat in our car in the Gorgi’s BBQ parking lot waiting for the torrential rain to slacken enough for us to make a run for the door.

“Want to share the umbrella?” she asked.

“No. It won’t rain on me. I’m a Christian,” I said.

“How do you figure that”?

“The Bible says God sends His rain on the just and the unjust; we in-betweeners get to stay dry,” I said.

She nudged me out into the rain with her furled umbrella.

The woman has no sense of biblical exegesis.

We scooted between raindrops into the restaurant. On Saturdays Gorgi’s offers a senior special about two dollars less than the regular price so we, and a good many other families, often take advantage of this Decrepit Discount For The Elderly.

The manager, a slender, gray-haired gentleman, much younger than I am, maybe in his mid-50s, greeted us at the door. We’ve been going in there for years and have a nodding acquaintance with him, though I don’t remember his name.

We found a table and ordered our BBQ, baked sweet potato and collard greens.

Mid-way through our lunch, a waitress behind the cash register called out, “Anybody in here know CPR?”.

Eight or ten young people stopped eating and rushed to the front.

The manager had dropped to the floor behind the counter.

He sprawled there not breathing.

Ginny and I took CPR classes years ago, but we neglected to take refresher courses, so when we say younger, more up-to-date people aiding, we helped by staying out of the way.

In a snap, all these strangers who happened to be eating in the restaurant formed teams to administer aid. One began chest compressions; another breathing; another established rhythm and counted cadence.

“One Thousand And One. One Thousand And Two. One Thousand And three…”

Knowledgeable CPR bystanders chanted with her as they organized a second team to relieve the first when they got tired.

People who did not know CPR helped too.

While the team of strangers worked to keep the manager alive, several people called Jacksonville Fire Rescue. One old lady customer removed the Please Wait To Be Seated sign back out of the entrance way. One man rushed to the front door to prop it open so ambulance attendants would have easy access. A fat lady in a flowered print dress rushed to the end of the parking lot to wave rescue vehicles into the correct one of Gorgi’s several driveways.

“One Thousand And One. One Thousand And Two…”

Sirens in the distance.

The first fire truck to arrive roared into the drive. A young fireman ran inside, quickly evaluated the situation and called to his buddies, “Cardiac Red”!

They grabbed the appropriate medical kit off the truck and poured into the restaurant. Everyone stood aside to give them working room. An ambulance arrived. Restaurant patrons helped maneuver the gurney around the L-shaped entranceway.

Another fire truck arrived bringing more equipment into Georgie’s.

The medics gave shots, inserted a plastic breathing tube, and attached defibrillator leads.

CLEAR!

CLEAR!

They shocked his heart several times. The CPR teams had backed out of the way to give the professionals room to work.

The medics loaded the manager onto the gurney while continuing to work on him. Mid-way out of the restaurant, they shocked him again.

They loaded him into the ambulance and sped off with lights and sirens.

That’s a good sign.

As the two fire engines packed up equipment, a guy with a clip board recorded information and let the head waitress know where the patient was being transported. She had already called the manager’s family and the restaurant owner.

A few waitress cried in the kitchen door. The cashier’s hands trembled. Customers drifted back to their seats to finish their cold meals.

These people had nothing in common other than they happened to be eating in the same restaurant — But they had acted as a well-drilled team; you’d have thought they had rehearsed this.

One man had been stricken.

Without question or hesitation, more than twenty strangers jumped to his aid.

Every once in a while I’m proud to be part of the human race.