State: NY
"Anyone who's ever been to New York knows that there is an incredible amount of kindness here, it just never occurs during rush hour in the subways. I decided I would target this time for a random act of kindness to a stranger. On Wednesday afternoon, I was waiting (albeit impatiently) for the 4 train at Atlantic Ave. It was crowded, elbow to elbow, noisy, and humid. Instead of complaining quietly to myself, I happened to notice a couple standing by the map looking puzzled and arguing in a language I don't understand. It was safe to assume they were tourists. Most people, including myself, ignore tourists during rush hour, often pushing past them, shoving their luggage out of the way, and bemoaning their alleged idiocy aloud. Instead of mindlessly joining the grumpy commuting masses on the approaching train, I approached the frazzled couple and offered to help. The woman stared at me, squinted, and asked if I spoke Farsi. I said, 'English or Spanish?' She shook her head and named a couple more languages in thick broken English. I shook my head.
"After a common tongue could not be agreed upon, I took to pantomiming the basic tourist commuter questions, 'Where are you going? What street? A hotel?' She showed me a printout with an address and I plugged it into my iPhone. I found the best train for her to take and pantomimed the station name and 'get out of the train here.' She asked, 'You go here?' I shook my head, and pointed to the approaching train. She looked discouraged and sighed to her husband. Instead of hopping on the 4 train, that I had now waited 12 minutes for (that's an eternity in rush hour commuting time) I motioned for them to follow me and brought them to a neighboring train (really, it wasn't that far out of the way). I rode with them to Manhattan and made sure they knew where to get out before making my exit. The woman and her husband smiled genuinely at me and said, 'Thank you' more times than I could count. I smiled back and said, 'Welcome to New York'.
"This may not seem like a huge deed, but it made me smile to think my rush hour commute typically characterized by shoving and groaning and sweat was that much more pleasant because I sacrificed a mere 12 minutes out of my day to help two people that most other commuters were unlikely to give the time of day to."
"Anyone who's ever been to New York knows that there is an incredible amount of kindness here, it just never occurs during rush hour in the subways. I decided I would target this time for a random act of kindness to a stranger. On Wednesday afternoon, I was waiting (albeit impatiently) for the 4 train at Atlantic Ave. It was crowded, elbow to elbow, noisy, and humid. Instead of complaining quietly to myself, I happened to notice a couple standing by the map looking puzzled and arguing in a language I don't understand. It was safe to assume they were tourists. Most people, including myself, ignore tourists during rush hour, often pushing past them, shoving their luggage out of the way, and bemoaning their alleged idiocy aloud. Instead of mindlessly joining the grumpy commuting masses on the approaching train, I approached the frazzled couple and offered to help. The woman stared at me, squinted, and asked if I spoke Farsi. I said, 'English or Spanish?' She shook her head and named a couple more languages in thick broken English. I shook my head.
"After a common tongue could not be agreed upon, I took to pantomiming the basic tourist commuter questions, 'Where are you going? What street? A hotel?' She showed me a printout with an address and I plugged it into my iPhone. I found the best train for her to take and pantomimed the station name and 'get out of the train here.' She asked, 'You go here?' I shook my head, and pointed to the approaching train. She looked discouraged and sighed to her husband. Instead of hopping on the 4 train, that I had now waited 12 minutes for (that's an eternity in rush hour commuting time) I motioned for them to follow me and brought them to a neighboring train (really, it wasn't that far out of the way). I rode with them to Manhattan and made sure they knew where to get out before making my exit. The woman and her husband smiled genuinely at me and said, 'Thank you' more times than I could count. I smiled back and said, 'Welcome to New York'.
"This may not seem like a huge deed, but it made me smile to think my rush hour commute typically characterized by shoving and groaning and sweat was that much more pleasant because I sacrificed a mere 12 minutes out of my day to help two people that most other commuters were unlikely to give the time of day to."
Thank you for sharing, Jen!
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