Metro stories

Yesterday, I saw two really noteworthy examples of courtesy (or lack thereof) on the Metro. I talked about them with the Young Women last night for Personal Progress, but the story has stuck with me and I wanted to share it here.

Carl and I got on the Metro on our way home from work, and a nice guy stood up and offered me his seat. It was so kind of him.

Now, a few stops later, an old lady got on. Really, really old. I saw her and was like, whoa! I should give her my seat! But then I remembered, hey wait--I'm pregnant! Maybe it's not my job to stand up for her?

I had this inner debate with myself and decided that I would just wait and watch and if she stood for too long I would give her my seat.

Well, I didn't need to worry about that. Because she went up to these people sitting in the front seats of their row, and glared at them until they both moved. A businesswoman in a suit and a giant ghetto dude. They both scrammed and this lady took the seat by the window.

She sat down, and then leaned forward to the woman who had been sitting in the blue seat (which is supposed to be available for the handicapped). The woman sitting in the blue seat had a GIANT giant suitcase, and was holding several bags and messing around on her iPad.

Anyway, the old lady leaned forward and spat, "That seat is for seniors. Are you blind? Can't you read?" and every single word just dripped with derision.

The woman in the seat was incredibly gracious. She just said, "I'm really sorry. Would you like this seat? Because I can move. It's not a problem." The old lady just grunted (remember, she'd already chased away two entire human beings from her row during rush hour). The woman in the blue seat just picked up all her stuff, packed it all up, and dragged her bags and her giant suitcase off to another corner of the car. In retrospect, I wonder if that woman was also pregnant (or just kind of awkwardly fattish around the middle. I hate when you can't tell!).

The old lady just leaned back and grumbled and glared out the window for the rest of the time. She had chased away three separate people during rush hour. They were all just standing in the aisle. It was amazing to me that they would rather stand than sit next to her--but not that amazing, because wow, that lady was witchy, and I don't blame 'em.

Anyway, that was just a very sad thing to behold.

an unexpected kindness

I didn't get to properly acknowledge this random guy in person, so I have to acknowledge him here, where he will probably never see it.

Today I stayed late at work, and met my husband at my Metro stop to ride home with him. We got on a crowded train, and I beelined for an open seat, and this random other guy got there right before I did. It was a sad moment because my back was killin.

But right then, another guy got up. He'd been sitting next to the wall, so he had to maneuver to get out of his seat. But he did, and offered the spot to me.

I was really touched by that. It's not super often that people are so considerate on the Metro--obviously, since that first guy totally was like "I'm gonna beat the pregnant lady to that open seat!!!!" Anyway, I thanked the guy who stood for me several times, but I know those words alone can't really convey my gratitude. It really meant a lot to me.

I wish that guy could know what a difference he made in my day.

It really makes me wonder how many other tiny acts of kindness are like that: small on the outside, but deeply meaningful to the recipients of said acts.

Like this one time, I was at Union Station, and as I walked past, a woman spilled her purse on the ground. It was the lunchtime rush and people were everywhere, and this lady was crawling on the ground and cursing at her bad luck. I bent down and started helping her, and I thought she was going to cry. "Blessings! Oh, God bless you!" she said over and over again. She just seemed so grateful. It only took like 2 minutes out of my life, and it was 100% not a big deal just to bend down and pick things up for her, but I do think it seriously changed her whole day. I think about that time a lot.

So after that guy gave me his seat and I thanked him a few times, I decided I couldn't go wrong by doing what that woman did for me. I prayed for that guy to get some extra blessings for helping me out.

Who knows. But I sure hope his day turned out great.

my Metro friend

A few months ago, I was having a Hard Time. I got out of my car to get on the Metro, and in a moment of despair I prayed for help. I told Heavenly Father that I couldn't get through the day without Him, and so He should probably send me someone or something to help me out.

And when I got to the top of the escalator, right there was standing a lady from church! I'd never really spoken with her before, but she's the mom of one of my high school friends, and she recognized me. She was so excited to see me, all smiling and everything, and she gave me this giant hug and had me sit next to her on the train. It was really cool because one of the things that had been stressing me was my sad, sad ward choir, and the first thing this lady told me when we sat down was how much she loved to watch me conduct music. It was just the compliment I needed. And then we just talked about our lives and scripture stuff for the entirety of my commute. It saved the day, in the most literal way.

The same exact thing happened again a month later. I was having a weird morning, and then there she was! And we sat together and had a great time on our way to work.

I guess on Friday my friend got on the Metro and another woman came up behind her, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Where's your friend?" she asked. "You know, the friend you always laugh with all the way to work? You both always look so happy to see each other!"

Ha, my friend told the lady that we'd just met on the Metro that first day. LOL!

Anyway, I guess that random lady had been apparently touched by our friendship or something. It was cool to hear about. My friend told me yesterday after the Easter program and it kind of made my day.

things I saw on the metro today

- Three students from American University wearing green, presumably for St. Patrick's Day

- Approximately 95% of everyone else not wearing green, presumably because they don't care it's St. Patrick's Day (I can't blame 'em)

- The Asian twin of Hans von Spakovsky

- An old white-hair guy with headphones listening to this song so loudly the entire car could hear it:


question: was the old man listening it so loud because he was going deaf, or was he going deaf because he was listening to this so loud?

- A reusable Giant bag


- An outdated ad explaining that in the case of 8+ inches of snow, above-ground Metro service may be suspended

- A mid-twenties guy with well-brushed, glossy hair down to his elbows, a unibrow, a tie-dyed pink and purple T-shirt, and baggy cargo shorts

- Another guy with dreadlocks down to his butt--held back with other dreadlocks

Yay Metro!