I was on my way home from work, riding the bullet one evening, when the train happened to brake abruptly. With no warning, people lost balance, swayed as they hung on the rails for dear life, or were simply annoyed. One girl, however, standing in front of me, had the worst of them all, as she innocently drank her chocolate milk.

As the train braked, the girl lost her balance, tripped over a gentleman’s lap, and almost fell over as she hung on a rail with one hand, as her other hand held her chocolate milk. Unfortunately, the spout of the milk carton was open at the time, and had made a major spill when she tripped over the lap. Dousing the poor gentleman’s coat, lap, and briefcase, with Neilson’s 2% chocolate milk, the girl was so devasted and sorry about the mishap. She apologized profusely as she look horrified that she just spilled something, and couldn’t do anything about it. The expression on her face said it all, as the gentleman silently took out a tissue pack and started wiping away. As the girl looked on, she couldn’t help but be sorry for her actions.

It was at this point where I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if the girl had offered to help clean the mess on the gentleman? Even if she didn’t have any tissue on her, she could have got some from him and helped him. But she was young, and she was obviously distressed inside.

At the same time, I suppose I could be just as in the wrong as I didn’t say a word, and merely minded my own business. As my stop had arrived, I quietly ducked out the door, and continued on with my day.

When I was her age, would I have acted the same way? It’s easy to say that I would have helped, but when the time came to do it, that could very well be a different story.

The next time, just be sure to give out that helping hand, even if it is something small. People will appreciate it, even if they don’t say it.