Yesterday on my way to work I got on the bus, and there was this middle-aged
man sitting at the front of the bus who looked noticeably disheveled. He
seemed out of place amidst the executive-(looking)types with their neatly
pressed clothes and carefully-crafted appearance, commuting to another mundane
day at the office. This man had two large bags with him, which seemed to
contain many, if not all, of his worldly possessions. No one sat beside him. He
had a noticeable tic, which caused him to make abrupt movements. I was honestly
a little bit on edge, along with many others on the bus, as we glanced away,
trying in vain not to bring attention to him.
A couple
of stops later, a large handful of mostly more executive-looking types boarded
the bus. The man in the front seat put out his hand for high fives from each of
these new passengers. Some humoured him, to his delight, and others pretended
not to notice. The last person to get on was a teenage boy of about 16, who
gave a high five which turned into a fist bump, then a handshake. The boy then
stepped over one of the man's bags, and sat in the empty seat next to him. A
look of pure joy took over the man's face.
The man
unzipped one of his bags and pulled out a newspaper, giving it to the boy. The
boy smiled, and began reading the headlines as the man closed his bag. Then the
man took the newspaper from the boy, placed it on the boy's shoulder, and
rested his head there. The man tenderly clasped the boy's hands in his and
began kissing them. The two held each other in innocent, pure affection.
My brain
couldn't process what I was seeing. What beauty! What love of one human to
another! These gentlemen were of different ages, races, and socioeconomic
statuses, yet those barriers were broken through a simple act of selflessness.
My eyes filled with tears and I was thankful that the brightness allowed for me
to keep my sunglasses on. I glanced up at the other passengers around me, and
many of them were sporting similar welled eyes and tear-stained faces.
The bus
pulled into the station, and the man and the boy exchanged another
high-five-fist-bump-handshake thing with enormous and bright smiles before
going their separate ways. They had ridden that bus together for less than 10
minutes, yet likely changed the entire day's outlook both for themselves, and
all those around them during that time.
What
might it look like if we spread love like butter (or guac or hummus or
whatever)? What kind of impact might that have upon this society and city where
people seem to have no time to give to anyone or anything more?
