April 12, 2007
pay it forward
a black father and his black 8 year old son sat across from me on the subway. the son’s mouth was curled up at the edges, as if he had a perpetual smile on his beaming face. the father held his son tightly; you could feel they were a warm family.
we were passing through manhattan now. the ridership slowly changed to i bankers and other full length wool coat wearing, wealthy individuals. from my peripheral vision, a woman walked into the scene. she looked like reese from legally blonde. same hair, same face, same body type.
the father taught his son to be a gentleman and made a seat for the lady. she took it. small talk ensued.
father: “you have nice calves”
reese: “thanks, it runs in my family”
after some more small talk, the father and son leave the train.
reese proceeds to check out her calves, flexing them, looking at them, admiring them. as if it was the first time she was complimented on them.
then, 30 minutes later, she stands up to get off the subway. she uses her new found position to once again, check out her calves, thinking nobody is watching. but i was. the effect a small compliment can have on a stranger. maybe like patch adams, we should all pay it forward.