Good Samaritan

I played the part of a good samaritan today. I got on the train today on my way to Aikido class. I saw this old man, not that old but gray, sitting kind of sideways, his leg blocking the seat next to him. He kind of had the mean mug on. I wasn't really trying to sit down so I wasn't bothered by his blocking the seat and mean muggin' is a common thing in New York. Anyways, I was standing by the door for a few stops, then moved into the car a little further with my back to one of the center poles, still near the old guy. Well, his stop comes up. I noticed he was trying to get up as we were pulling into the station but he couldn't quite manage it. Right before the train stopped he finally rose up and with wobbly effort, slowly moved towards the door, coming in my direction. He actually smiled at me. A small smile. I smiled back. As he let go of his grip of the overhead bar he began to rock forward. I noticed he really wasn't going to be able to keep himself upright. I slowly reached out and gently put my fingers to the middle of his chest and steadied him. The train came to a full stop and he actually got his balance back. He smiled again and said, "Thank You." I naturally said, "You're welcome. No problem." I realized as he was trying to get up that he wasn't mean muggin' and blocking the seat for selfish, mean old guy reasons. He was actually in pain and trying to minimize it. Something wrong with his left leg I guess. See, I'm not a misanthrope. I really do like people. Just not all the time. ;-)