STORIES OF KINDNESS

A day in early April 2020, my plane just landed in the LaGuardia Airport. I attended a repatriation flight from India to the USA due to COVID-19. It was a very very long journey. When I arrived in NY, I was exhausted and feeling uneasy because I had never been at LaGuardia Airport and did not know how I could get home in the pandemic time. Everything was so different compared to how it was before I left for India a month ago. I dragged my luggage and made my exit out of the airport. It was extremely sunny yet dry and cold. I clumsily and swiftly pulled out my sweater from the suitcase. I missed the temperature and sun in Inida immediately at that moment. A couple of minutes later, luckily I found there was a bus could drop me off near where I was living. The bus came soon, and I was exhilarated. I put down luggage and found myself a single seat. Strangely, I noticed there was a chain separating the passenger and the driver zones. There were no one in the bus in the beginning, and then a lady who seemed like a flight attendant joined the ride. After about 10 minutes, there were a handful of other people got on the bus. I became a little bit nervous, yet remained calm. I had never been in this bus route. I was curiously skimming through the view from the window and trying to understand how active the neighborhood was. There were very few people on the street and majority of the stores were shut down. Another 20 minutes later, it was finally my stop. I stood up from my seat and clumsily tried to carry out my luggage and bag. At the same moment, I noticed a guy was paying attention to me, and he kindly hold the bus door and made it stay open for me so that I could get out smoothly. I was surprised. I did not expect that at all, as I was trying to stay with my own business and avoid any contacts with other people. I assumed everyone else would be the same in this worrisome time. I felt very touched, even though it was a small gesture. In this particular pandemic time when I was traveling alone, this compassionate action delightfully concluded my foreign journey and made me realize the beauty and power of kindness.

It is rush hour on the 7 train. I’m returning to Manhattan after a meeting in Queens. The subway car is so packed that no one can move, yet somehow people continue to exit and enter the train at each stop. I’m holding the upper railing with one hand, and the straps of my heavy backpack, which I had not been able to remove, are digging deeper and deeper into my shoulders. Suddenly, a wave of blackness and nausea swells up. It breaks but is quickly followed by another. I try to shift my position to relieve the pressure, take deep breaths of the stale subway air, and concentrate on remaining upright, fighting off each wave as it rolls over me. The train pulls into Grand Central, and I somehow manage to squeeze through the bodies and walk onto the platform. I think I’m okay and take a step toward the stairs to the surface. The next thing I know, I am sitting in the middle of the platform with a stranger’s arms supporting me while other commuters stream past us. He has already called for help and stays with me until the MTA officials take over and I thank him and assure him that I am fine. He then merges with the rest of the stream and disappears.

I'm on the A train (again) A stooped, older Black woman with a gorgeous hairwrap and her caretaker (family member? aid?) get on a mildly crowded train. The two men (one white, one Black) sitting near the door immediately get up, shuffle, switch places and slowly help the older woman into her seat -- the walker creates less room for everyone. No one complains. SAME RIDE, 10 mins later. A healthier, older, quiet Latinx woman gets on at 59th - a young Black man who had been present for the walker-shuffle asks her if shes like a seat and quickly moves so she can sit. Theory: Kindness is catching if people are witnessing.