שמע משותף

I had a complete mental breakdown in public. I was at a grocery store. Just standing there. And everything became too much. I started crying. Not quietly. Full breakdown. Shaking. Hyperventilating. The works. I expected people to look away. To feel uncomfortable. To avoid me. But something unexpected happened. A woman I'd never met sat down next to me on the floor. She didn't say anything. She just sat there. While I fell apart, she was just... there. Then another person came over. Then an