Tuesday 1 March 2016

Just Wait a Little Bit.


Autumn leaves Make Me Feel Like Dancing.

There are so many wonderful people in this world who do such amazing things. There are so many who give of their time to help charity and others, it is often humbling to see.

Sadly there are also those who only care about one person, themselves. They seem totally and utterly oblivious to the lives and needs of others. It is this kind of person who causes road rage, angry hurtful words and thoughtless actions. Those who five minutes after the road has been swept and cleaned drop their litter as if it meant nothing.

Yes it is a bit of a hobby horse with me I know. But one of the things that really annoys is when you see somebody who has been standing in line to board a bus and when the bus arrives finds herself or himself jostled and pushed by those who have just arrived. 

This is the account of one such incident that trolly warmed my heart.

Today, a true tale of heroism that takes place not in a war zone, nor a hospital, but in Victoria station in London in 2007, during a tube strike. 

Our hero – a transport journalist and self-described "big, stocky bloke with a shaven head" named Gareth, who first wrote about this experience on the community blog metafilter.com.

He – is standing with other commuters in a long, snaking line for a train, when a smartly dressed businessman blatantly cuts in line behind him. (Behind him: this detail matters.) 
The interloper proves immune to polite remonstration, whereupon Gareth is seized by a magnificent idea. He turns to the elderly woman standing behind the queue-jumper, and asks her if she'd like to go ahead of him. 

She accepts, so he asks the person behind her, and the next person, and the next – until 60 or 70 people have moved ahead, Gareth and the seething queue-jumper shuffling further backwards all the time. 

The train finally arrives, and Edwards hears a shout from the front of the line. It's the elderly woman, addressing him: "Young man! Do you want to go in front of me?"

As I say it is always a joy to see that in this world there are still those who have not gone down the road of selfish thought.

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