The beautiful weather we had in the afternoon of a clear sky and mild temperatures was probably created by the dismal dark and rainy morning. That morning also spawned Today’s Perfect Moment.
I trudged my way up the subway steps, hoping that the rain that pelted me from the bus stop before I entered the subway had magically subsided. While it had slowed to a drizzle, it certainly hadn’t stopped. I had to wait for 3 stoplights to change to navigate the construction confused intersection at Yonge and Eglinton. At each corner the rain was somewhat different. I had an umbrella but hadn’t opened it yet.
Suddenly, a complete stranger sidled up next to me and covered me with her umbrella. This thing used to happen a lot when I was younger and this random act of kindness was not seen as an invasion of space. People shared umbrellas with strangers in need.
Of course I thanked her and enjoyed standing under her umbrella. I knew, perhaps instinctively, perhaps I heard something in her voice, that she was from another country. She didn’t say much so I suspected that her English level was not very high. I also wondered if she was a student at the school I taught.
She left me after crossing the intersection and proceeded to walk in the same direction I was going. She walked at a good pace that I could only keep up with and proceeded to walk to the door of my school. We shared an elevator up to her floor and smiled at each other as we parted.
I am reminded of How I Met Your Mother when Ted finally met the mother and they shared an umbrella on a train platform. I may have hated the end of that show, but I loved that scene.
I digress
As I said before, this thing used to happen a lot more often in the past. Now it seems like good manners and courtesy are rare. I still hold doors and elevator doors open for people. I give up my seat to people in need. I don’t play my music so loud that it bleeds out of my earphones.
Oh, wait, now I sound like an old person struck with nostalgia for their time complaining about how life was better in the past…..
Okay, sadly, all of that might be true, but at least someone shared their umbrella with me.
An Archive of Perfect Moments 