My Thoughts XVII: Another Subway Story

I have a little story to share, which began last week. Once again a subway story. Or metro, or tube, or whatever You call it.

It was the ending of a business day, I think Wednesday and I was going home. The subway was quite busy with people going home after work and kids going home after school. The time was roughly half past four. I was standing in the middle of a cart and as in most cases, studying my surroundings.

At one point, I saw an elderly woman, well in her 70s, poorly dressed, with an empty coffee cup, moving through passengers asking for spare change. She was moving in my direction and she was not far away either. My day had been relatively good, financially speaking. My right pocket held a wad of about four-five hundred dollars. I had no change - that I knew.

We made eye contact as she approached and I nodded my head as I reached with my right hand in my pocket. I was not going to pull a wad of cash in front of her. I did know that if I pulled a bill from the exterior of the wad, I would have pulled out a fifty but if I grabbed a bill from the center, it would be a ten, or a twenty. What came out was a twenty and I gave it to her.

Her eyes balloned and she said: "Wow!! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" At which point I stopped her and told her not to thank me because I wasn't the one who gave it to her. I told her that: "It came from ..." and I looked up with my palms raised upwards. She continued with another "Thank You", which was followed by me saying: "Thank the Great Spirit."

She walked past me to a group of high-school students who were behind me, showing them her new-found twenty dollar bill and said ecstatically: "Look, I got a twenty!" That was a little too much attention for my liking but it was what it was. I minded my own business and she got off at the following station.

Yesterday, I was invited to a friend's house, downtown for dinner. Around half-past seven I was in the subway. It was a Saturday so, it wasn't that busy. There were seats available so I sat down, with my nose burried in a book, when I heard someone talking and as I raised my head up, I saw the lady.

She had her coffee cup extended towards some people sitting not far from me and she had just began moving my way when our eyes met. I smiled and her eyes went big again.

"I remember You! I never forget a face" she said moving faster towards me.

I began laughing as I opened my bag and stuck my hand in it. (I have a pocket in my bag where I keep change.)

"Let me see if I have some change. If not ..." (There wasn't much change in my bag. I only felt a few small coins.)

"If not can I have a bill? Please, I have been struggling today."

I pulled a bunch of bills from my pocket and gave her a twenty, to which she was once again smiling and thanking me. I asked her if she had a place to stay. She said she was staying with "a girlfriend". I wished her good luck and as the train stopped, she got off. Everyone around me was starring again, as the previous time.

Haha!! What's the bloody chance? In a city of millions of people. In a different subway, different part of down, different day, different time ... Sigh ... Haha!! Nonsense.

Anyway, that's my story. All the best to everyone!