Bob CollinsNo better way to return from vacation than with a daily dose of sweetness.
Writing an op-ed in the Star Tribune today, Mark Brandt, of Minneapolis, spotted one of those “no big deal” moments of true charity.
The scene was a Blue Line train on which an apparent down-and-out 70-something woman nodded off while a 20-something woman, sitting across from her, continued to listen to whatever was coming out of her earbuds until she alighted at Nicollet Mall.
But as she walked by the older woman, who was still dozing, she ever so gently and quietly slid a dollar bill into the woman’s bag. Another passenger and I saw her do it, and she gave us a warm smile as the three of us stepped onto the platform.
It was, Brandt writes, “true charity.” The woman was not seeking attention and expected nothing in return.
Somehow, her action seemed nobler or sweeter than when I plunk some change into a bucket where a man sits holding a sign on a city sidewalk. I know I’m only talking about one dollar here, but I’m guessing that the young woman didn’t have a whole lot of money, and I was confident that the old woman would put it to good use.
