Pay it forward

There are times, when living in the big city, that my faith in humanity is utterly lost. The person at the cash desk, arguing for 10 minutes because his shirt is not $6.95, but $9.95, and he thinks that he should be entitled to a $6.95 shirt, even if that is not the price marked. The total lack of respect for sales people; not even acknowledging their presence, even if they greet you. The complete rudeness of everyone around you, and the harshness and coldness that seems to characterize anyone who's lived in a big city for any length of time.

And then, there are times when my faith in humanity is completely restored. Last night was another late night at work. I got to the bus stop at about 1:20. It was kind of cold last night, probably in the 30s with a chill wind. Another girl who worked at the mall was there, along with a mother and her teenage daughter. By 2:00 am the bus still wasn't there. A lot of cabs had driven by, but I had no cash and so was determined to "suck it up" and wait for the bus. A cab that had driven by a couple times stopped at 2 am, rolled down his window and told us, "Ladies, I'm going down Woodhaven Blvd (which was the bus route) to Jamaica Ave. $2 each, that's what the bus costs."

The mom said that she was going a bit farther than that, and he agreed to take her. The other girl got in too. He looked at me and asked, "You coming?" I told him that I had no cash. Without hesitating, he said, "Get in the car." I asked if he was sure, that I had no cash, and again he said, "Get in the car."

He dropped off the mother and daughter at Atlantic Ave, which is where I usually get off the bus and walk about 10 min home. I opened the door to get out, and he said, "Stay in, I'll take you down the road." He ended up taking me to the corner of my street before taking the other girl (presumably) to her door as well. I thanked him again as I got out of the cab, and he said, "Just go do a good deed for someone else now."

Whenever my faith is lost, something always happens to bring it back again. Life is funny like that.