We were having a group discussion about a story which goes like this:
There was a commotion on the train. A young man was ready to fight off a drunken man who was making a nuisance of himself on a train, when my friend, Elizabeth said, “Trains have a lot of stories!”
I was curious and asked her what she meant, and she related her story: “I often park my car at a certain train station location when I go for prison visit, and sometimes the trains get pretty crowded. We ladies would squeeze into the train packed like sardines. Sometimes, some foreigners of African origin would offer their seat, seeing that I was elderly, and I was thankful to get a seat to rest my poor tired feet.”
She continued, “However, when I see another person, perhaps older and frailer than I come on board, I was prompted to offer her my own seat out of a sense of obligation or duty.” After that other people also offered their seats to others. So, it seemed like when a good gesture had been given, it often gave rise to more good gestures from others.
It just needed somebody to start it first! It just needed a spark to keep the fire going.
She went on,”Sometimes, I would see mothers with their hands full trying to look after small children, struggling with their possessions and bags, looking tired and so on. Then I would reach out into my handbag and bring out some sweets to distribute to the children.”
“The children loved it, and you should have seen the look of thankfulness from the mother.. Small gestures like that generate a lot of goodwill. And it makes everybody Happy”
Trains Have Stories!