A few years back I watched the movie Pay it forward where a young boy, as part of a school assignment aimed to make the world a better place, puts a plan into action where he does a favour for three people and asks them to do the same for three others rather than paying him back.
Today I did a small good deed for some strangers which hopefully makes them do one for someone else one day. On my bus home from the station a young couple got on with three big suitcases. The guy’s Oyster card (travel card) didn’t have any money on it and he walked back to his girlfriend and their bags to try to find some cash but without any luck. The bus driver started getting irritated, opening the door to the drivers area and asking them to pay. At this point the bus was already in motion and you could tell on the young couple that it was an honest mistake. They didn’t mean to try to avoid paying the bus fare and they didn’t know what to do. The guy walked up and talked to the driver. I couldn’t hear what he said but the driver wasn’t having any of it and shouted at him. I knew that I for once had a lot of small change in my wallet and walked up to the guy and the driver and paid for the fare. The look on the young couple’s faces was so lovely and they thanked me over and over.
I’m really glad that I could help make the last leg of their journey home a bit easier. I’ve been in the same situation a couple of times. You know everyone is looking. You’re desperate to be getting to where you’re going and you’ve probably already waited quite a while for the bus. As much as I understand that the bus driver might get in trouble if he allows people to travel without a ticket, at times it’s just plain annoying. Everyone makes a mistake and in certain situations, like after a journey, you wish that the bus driver would be a bit understanding.
Quite a few times I’ve run into really helpful people who e.g. on packed planes help me reach my bag which have had to be left rows and rows back in the plane (very annoying when you try to get off). Strangers have paid me a compliment about, and once, my first ever time in London where I due to a number of reasons arrived in Oxford Circus after a flight from Bali without any money, I was given £5 by a stranger so I could get to my hostel. It’s so nice when a strangers reach out with an act of kindness and it’s just as lovely to be able to do it to someone else. Be it paying for a bus fare or noticing that someone needs a hand and offering to help, the more small things like these that we can do, and the more people we do it to and people who see us doing it, the bigger the chance is that we can inspire someone else to do the same in a similar situation. And just as the boy in the movie I believe all those small acts can help make the world a better place.
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/quasifly/2902113089
