After I exited the subway today, a woman approached me an asked if I had an extra "swipe" on my card, meaning, could I spot her a ride. Being approached so often by people asking for money, my reaction settings to this sort of request is uniformly, "no." I'll give money to performers sometimes, but I don't have money to hand out to every person that asks- there are a lot of people asking for money in New York.
But several weeks ago, someone volunteered to give me a "swipe" when my card didn't read and I had already started into the circular turnstile with my cello. I was just starting to back up to swipe again, when he said, "Don't worry, I got you." And that was it. In the confusion of the crowds there wasn't really even an opportunity to thank him properly.
So tonight, I pulled out my wallet and gave her the last ride I had on my card. And because I had the time, I went to the kiosk and topped off again, realizing that with my purchase of $27.75 my bonus $3 could really always be used to help out a stranger. Every time I refill my card, I get a little gift card for another person. It took two strangers and some relay kindness for me to see this opportunity. But hopefully I can get onboard now.
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