Saturday Serenity: Compassionate Tears

**There is an audio accompaniment to this post located above this note. Thanks so much for having a listen!

Taking a wee detour from all of the ‘frosty’ photos I’ve been posting lately, I wanted to share with you two things that happened to me this past week.

As most of you know, I spend a lot of time riding the trains here in Chicago. For the most part, the trips are usually status-quo.  However, last week was different.

The train wasn’t packed which was a nice thing to find upon boarding. I noticed two gentlemen sitting on either side of a seat containing two plastic cups and a lot of change.

They spoke to each other, both taking turns counting the coins.  Now, at this point we can draw all kinds of conclusions and assumptions that might be (or not be correct).  Were they splitting up the money they had collected on the trains? Were they going to buy drugs? The list can go on and on I suppose.

As they spoke to each other, I immediately sensed two people who were down on their luck, just trying to survive in this overwhelmingly large city.  They talked in quiet tones, and were very respectful of other passengers. There wasn’t a feeling of trying to obtain drug money, or anything untoward (which sadly happens a lot on the trains). There is a man who pretends he is blind (and is known to authorities) begging for money. Another has a prepared speech that he announces to the entire train before collecting money.

I noticed that one of the men dropped his mitt and the floor of the train was quite dirty with slushy snow from boots so I immediately said, “Excuse me sir, but you just dropped your mitt underneath the seat.”

Well he quickly grabbed it and both men thanked me.  They smiled and I smiled.  I said, “You sure need your mitts on a day like this, don’t you?” They agreed and continued to smile.

I felt both of their sweet and sincere nature. They looked so happy that a stranger would be kind and not judge them for their coin counting. I did nothing that would be called special.

As I left the train they both wished me a good day and I quickly turned to them and said, “And to you gentleman as well; please stay safe out there, k?” They smiled and nodded. When I walked along the train platform tears welled up in my eyes. The smallest, tiniest bit of compassion is so desperately needed in our world. Well, more than that but showing even a bit affects others in a positive way on some level.

The other thing that happened this past week is on the audio recording at the beginning of this post. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with kindness and compassion, for others and also for YOU!