Kindness Aboard Public Transport
My sister is constantly in the process of giving away her food. The first day I arrive at her house, she introduces me to the diet she's currently on and lays down the rules: These are the foods I can offer her and these are the foods I can't talk about. She tells me that she just bought a bunch of food and that I'll be taking some of it home when I go. When I left today, she literally handed me a full paper bag of groceries.
Fast forward to the afternoon when I had to take various forms of public transportation to get to Bowie. The paper bag made it through the first and second bus trip, but one handle ripped it was on its last legs by the time I had to walk to the train. This lady tried to help me hold it, but she ended up ripping the second handle off. Once I got off the train and made it to the final bus I was hugging the bag rather than carrying it. A kind lady started talking to me about halfway through the ride, just chatting about the long winter and the snow and how she got caught in a puddle. When we got to my stop, I realized that rearranging my stuff and getting off the bus was gonna take a little doing. I guess the lady sensed my moment of exasperation.. she literally stood up, took all the things out of the bag she was carrying, and helped me put my things into it. I just couldn't get over what was happening. She herself was having trouble getting my torn-up bag in there, so another lady Metro worker that was sitting at the front of the bus was like 'I got this' and got my bag into the bag. I also realized that a guy getting off at my stop had carried my heavy backpack off the bus and was holding it for me. The bus driver had been patiently waiting for us to finish for about a minute and a half by that point. I gave the woman a huge hug, thanked the Metro worker and the bus driver, and got off the bus. The guy handed me my backpack and I thanked him. I just.. why do people not like public transportation? If you need to regain some faith in humanity, get on the bus.
Fast forward to the afternoon when I had to take various forms of public transportation to get to Bowie. The paper bag made it through the first and second bus trip, but one handle ripped it was on its last legs by the time I had to walk to the train. This lady tried to help me hold it, but she ended up ripping the second handle off. Once I got off the train and made it to the final bus I was hugging the bag rather than carrying it. A kind lady started talking to me about halfway through the ride, just chatting about the long winter and the snow and how she got caught in a puddle. When we got to my stop, I realized that rearranging my stuff and getting off the bus was gonna take a little doing. I guess the lady sensed my moment of exasperation.. she literally stood up, took all the things out of the bag she was carrying, and helped me put my things into it. I just couldn't get over what was happening. She herself was having trouble getting my torn-up bag in there, so another lady Metro worker that was sitting at the front of the bus was like 'I got this' and got my bag into the bag. I also realized that a guy getting off at my stop had carried my heavy backpack off the bus and was holding it for me. The bus driver had been patiently waiting for us to finish for about a minute and a half by that point. I gave the woman a huge hug, thanked the Metro worker and the bus driver, and got off the bus. The guy handed me my backpack and I thanked him. I just.. why do people not like public transportation? If you need to regain some faith in humanity, get on the bus.