good samaritan

I’ve done my good deed for the day. On occasion I do good deeds – what I call city good deeds. Holding the door, letting someone know when their backpack is open, lifting strollers up stairs. I haven’t actually done this last one yet, but I see it happen all the time and it makes me happy, so I like to think I would do it if given the chance.

Walking up the stairs from the subway, I noticed something shiny. On closer inspection, it was a giant many-hooped earring. I looked up just in time to catch the light glint off of the person in front of me and her one earring. My brain worked quickly, remembering the one I had just seen on the stairs and comparing it to the one I was seeing now. They matched.

I ran (trotted) the few feet to the lady and tapped her on the shoulder. She was surprised to see me, but through words and hand gestures I managed to make my point. With a few words and hand gestures of her own, she understood. She felt the air where her earring would have been and ran back to retrieve her lost. It’s not that she didn’t believe me; her instincts just led her to mimic what I was doing – feeling the air where my own earring would have been. That’s the basis of communication.

I felt good about my kind act. Good enough to blog about it, even. I don’t know how much it cost or where she got it, but I do know that one giant earring is of no use to anyone, whether it be the earring on the stairs or the one remaining in her ear. I would hate to lose an earring, especially one that I had left my house wearing, knowing it could be anywhere in the city. She did say “thank you so much” but on behalf of everyone in blogland, I thank me.