Falling Down
This morning while riding the escalator at the Rosslyn station, my shoelace got caught in the escalator's jaws of doom, and I fell down hard right at the top.
That I'm a terrible klutz should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. But what was a surprise to me was that no one--NO ONE--stopped to help me, see if I was okay, or even offer concern. I heard one middle-aged black woman coo sadly as I fell, but she just ducked past me and moved on. Everyone around me just walked by or passed by like there wasn't some big guy flopped on his knee in front of the escalator. ;)
Imagine if I'd broken my leg or busted my knee, eh? Ah, the milk of human kindness.
It's easy being nice to your friends and family, because you have connections to them. Being nice and compassionate to those you do not know--where there's no incentive but the duty to do the right thing--says more about who you are as a person. Too often, I find we view our fellow people as obstacles to be surmounted, not people who're just trying to get to the same places we are.
That I'm a terrible klutz should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. But what was a surprise to me was that no one--NO ONE--stopped to help me, see if I was okay, or even offer concern. I heard one middle-aged black woman coo sadly as I fell, but she just ducked past me and moved on. Everyone around me just walked by or passed by like there wasn't some big guy flopped on his knee in front of the escalator. ;)
Imagine if I'd broken my leg or busted my knee, eh? Ah, the milk of human kindness.
It's easy being nice to your friends and family, because you have connections to them. Being nice and compassionate to those you do not know--where there's no incentive but the duty to do the right thing--says more about who you are as a person. Too often, I find we view our fellow people as obstacles to be surmounted, not people who're just trying to get to the same places we are.