A Random Act of Kindness
I drove to work this morning.
Now, in general, I shouldn't drive to work; it's much, much cheaper to take the train. But I like having my car with me as soon as the day ends. It's dumb, because I probably spend as much time in traffic as I would sitting on the train; but somehow, I like the control of having the car. (I also like the silence in my passenger seat, and the lack of people sitting on my hip, but that's probably my growing hermit tendencies.)
But anyway, the driving to work is sort of incidental to this entry. Normally, I, like every other driver in Massachusetts at 8 AM, get very cranky because people do randomly stupid ass things and just get in my way.
As you all know, today was the 3,216th cold and rainy day in a row. That, combined with the events of the world, have combined to put pretty much everyone I know into kind of a rotten mood. I am not immune to this condition, I hasten to add. I think the cast is actually becoming afraid of me.
But then something happened.
I was driving down Trapelo Road, and I saw a bus.
This is not unusual. THere are a lot of busses on Trapelo Road. But this one was doing something different.
It was just sitting there.
Then I saw a woman running towards it.
And realized - to my complete shock - that the busdriver was waiting for her!
This woman was running hell for leather down the street, her umbrella was inverting, and she was wearing silly shoes. Normally the bus would peel out leaving her to suck in exhaust fumes.
But not today. The bus driver waited for her! I was stunned. And then, I realized I was actually smiling. Now, I'm sure that some person on that bus was bitching and grumbling and moaning about it. Me?
It put me in a good mood for the rest of the morning.
My only regret was that I didn't note his bus number, because I would have written the MBTA a note telling them how cool I thought that was.
I'm not sure what it says about my expectations or the world in general that this tiny, stupid thing made me so happy. I don't want to analyze that too much, because it will probably kill my buzz.
But for three solid hours, all was right with the world.
Until the jackass down the hall yelled at me about something remarkably stupid.
Now, in general, I shouldn't drive to work; it's much, much cheaper to take the train. But I like having my car with me as soon as the day ends. It's dumb, because I probably spend as much time in traffic as I would sitting on the train; but somehow, I like the control of having the car. (I also like the silence in my passenger seat, and the lack of people sitting on my hip, but that's probably my growing hermit tendencies.)
But anyway, the driving to work is sort of incidental to this entry. Normally, I, like every other driver in Massachusetts at 8 AM, get very cranky because people do randomly stupid ass things and just get in my way.
As you all know, today was the 3,216th cold and rainy day in a row. That, combined with the events of the world, have combined to put pretty much everyone I know into kind of a rotten mood. I am not immune to this condition, I hasten to add. I think the cast is actually becoming afraid of me.
But then something happened.
I was driving down Trapelo Road, and I saw a bus.
This is not unusual. THere are a lot of busses on Trapelo Road. But this one was doing something different.
It was just sitting there.
Then I saw a woman running towards it.
And realized - to my complete shock - that the busdriver was waiting for her!
This woman was running hell for leather down the street, her umbrella was inverting, and she was wearing silly shoes. Normally the bus would peel out leaving her to suck in exhaust fumes.
But not today. The bus driver waited for her! I was stunned. And then, I realized I was actually smiling. Now, I'm sure that some person on that bus was bitching and grumbling and moaning about it. Me?
It put me in a good mood for the rest of the morning.
My only regret was that I didn't note his bus number, because I would have written the MBTA a note telling them how cool I thought that was.
I'm not sure what it says about my expectations or the world in general that this tiny, stupid thing made me so happy. I don't want to analyze that too much, because it will probably kill my buzz.
But for three solid hours, all was right with the world.
Until the jackass down the hall yelled at me about something remarkably stupid.