Four Little Stories About Good People.

By Karen

In the past few years, I have several times witnessed or been a player in a tiny vignette that demonstrates how very nice people really are. Here are some that are memorable.

• I had dressed well to go to a business event on a beautiful summer evening. My strappy shoes were oh so elegant. When I emerged, it was pouring rain, at least as hard as the rain that prompted Noah to build his arc. I had nothing to protect me from the waves of water, or to protect my shoes from disintegration. A young man was walking by. He gave me his umbrella. I protested, but he walked away with a smile on his extremely wet face.

• Another rainy day story. I was returning from grocery shopping, a few blocks away from my home, when it started to pour. I kept walking, through rivers of water. Then I heard a voice shouting: Get in! Next to me was a driver, pointing to the back seat of his car. I hesitated. He said: Just get in. We are neighbors. I’ve seen you for years, taking your two children who are no longer little to school. I’ll drop you at your door.” I did and he did.

• At the beginning of COVID, just before lockdown was about to commence, I bounded into a crosswalk even though the light was against me and I could not see traffic on the other side of a van that was parked right up against the corner. Not bright. Mid-bound I saw a driver proceeding toward the crosswalk, so I clumsily bounded backwards. The driver stopped, bowed from the waist, and waved me across. I smiled, and thanked him. He opened the window and said: Lady, the world is about to end. The least we can do is be nice to each other. I blew him a kiss!

• Early one evening I boarded a subway train, and sat down. A young man and his friend got in and sat across from me. The train started to move, and the young man opened a container of food and unwrapped a plastic fork. He dropped the fork on the floor. He asked his friend: Do you think the 5 second rule applies on the subway? She said: No. You can’t use that fork. He moaned: Oh no. I’m hungry. At that, a man at the far end of the car walked toward him and handed over a small bottle of hand sanitizer, saying: I think this will clean the fork. A woman nearby opened her capacious bag and brought out a wooden spoon, which she handed to the young man. A woman at the other end brought over another plastic wrapped fork. A fourth person offered a napkin to wipe the fallen fork. The young man was too astonished to eat, and in any event the train was coming to his stop. The young man got up to leave, and said loudly to everyone: This is the best subway ride I have ever been on. Everyone clapped, and wished him a good dinner.

Aren’t people grand?