Robert and the pills

So I had an interesting MAX ride yesterday. On the way to work a guy board at PGE Park. He seemed unstable and became agitated when lady tried to help him get seated in the handicap section. The guy asked me to help him with his bag (his speech was really slurred). The guy said that he needed an ambulance. I freaked out at first but ask the guy his name. The man, Robert, did as well as his cell number. Someone on the MAX let me know that I needed to use the call box to call the MAX conductor about the situation. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown’s eyes were glazed over and his head started to bob up and down. I told the driver what was happening and that she needed to call 911. The conductor stopped the train to help us out with Robert. I kept the guy talking because I had no clue if he was having a stroke or not and I thought that if he passed out then he would be in real danger. Robert kept going on about having an education from Penn State. I humored him the best I could. I asked Robert some questions to see what was going on.

“Why do you need an ambulance? “ I asked. He said “I took two of my heart medication.” I asked him if he remember how long but Robert did not respond. I then asked if he had his medications on him. Robert pulled out a freezer bag filled with different kinds of medications. I asked Robert which ones he took but he did not respond. I thought, “Uh oh… this is really not good.” Robert finally responded with “I took all of them.” Now I really panicked. Then Robert talked about the VA Hospital. One of the passengers kept Robert talking about the VA and the Navy in an attempt to keep him awake until the paramedics cam.

Finally the police and the paramedics came. I gave the police the bag of pills. One the EMTs looked at Robert and said, “So Robert, what’s the excuse this time?”

“Pardon me?” I questioned.

“Robert does this all the time. This is not the first time. Robert, do you need to go to Detox?” I remember going though his phone and seeing a Detox number and not thinking much about it. The paramedics informed me that Mr. Brown did not overdose but this was an act. We got him off the MAX. Someone yelled that “we should have gotten him off the MAX to begin with so that everyone else can go on their way.” At first I was mad because I thought that they were being callous about a human life. But looking back, I am kind of disappointed that I fell for Robert’s act. However a lady on the MAX told me I did a good thing. I don’t know, honestly.

-Z