He Made My Day

"Can you help me?"

Barely 5 a.m., and being panhandled already, I thought. I had been in a foul mood for a few days, and just wanted to get rid of the guy, so I reached into my pocket.

"No, I don't want any money." A man in his mid-forties wearing a worn tee-shirt and short pants stood in front of me. Pointing to his right eye and then his left, he said, "You see, I am blind in this eye and partially blind in this one. I need a ticket, but can't see well enough to use the machine."

We walked over to the fare machine located at the edge of the platform. The man opened his wallet. He rifled through the bills trying to determine the denominations. "If you want, you can take the money out yourself. I'm a little slow. In fact, you could rob me and I can't stop you, you know." The man managed to pull out a five-dollar bill, which I fed into the machine for a ticket. Two dollars in change fell out. "You can keep the change if you want."

"No, that's okay, " I replied.

When the train came, he followed me inside. "Is it okay if I sit near you?"

"Sure," I mumbled. To be honest, I wanted to be rid of him so I could nap.

"I hate buses," he said, "And I'm not going to like this. It's scary. Is it always this loud?"

"Yes," I said, "But just hang on for twenty minutes. It will go by fast." As we reached each stop, I let the man know how many stops were left before we reached his. This reassured him. As the train filled, he looked around at the people sitting near him.

"I guess everybody here is going to work, but no one looks happy. Yeah, it's so early, but it's got to be done. You may not want to do it, but if something has got to be done, you really don't have a choice."

As we neared his stop, he asked me for my name. "Steve," I said, as we shook hands, "The next stop is yours."

"Thank you. I am going to make your day." I ignored him. Louder, he said, "I know you don't believe me, but you have been so nice this morning that I am going to make your day."