My first thought was "That's great, but it's what anyone would do."
I have to remind myself that it's not what anyone would do. A surprising (to me) amount of people would
not reach out to help a stranger, even with an amount so small even
I could easily afford it.
I was taking a bus to work one night several years ago. The bus fare was $1.75 at that time, and to my embarrassment over not checking before hand I realized I only had a $5 bill, and the bus drivers don't make change. The driver said she'd let me slide and I said I'd make it up on my next trip. Then another passenger said "I'll pay it." So somebody else paid for my bus ticket. I've returned the favor more than once. I've taken time to show strangers how to get from one place to another. I help every time a neighbor, or a stranger, asks for it.
It actually started long before that bus trip. Many years ago I was at a birthday party for a friend. One poor frazzled waitress waited on thirty or so of us all night. When we were getting ready to leave they assigned a team to help clean up the room. We had all left tips on the table, but figuring that they would now be shared among the group one enterprising girl dumped the sugar packets out of the bowl and went around to everyone gathering a special tip just for the one waitress, and as we were leaving she quietly handed the bowl to her and said "This is just for you". As I recall it was around $100.
I'm not trying to toot my own horn, because I tend to think I'm less special, not more. After all, isn't it what anybody would do?
Oh, and thanks Vienna for sharing that.
