I was walking back to our apartment in Manhattan, the hood of my jacket pulled tight to keep the rain out, when I saw an older man with a walker struggle to descend the slippery stairs of his building. When he almost fell, I and several others went over to help.
There was an Access-A-Ride van (a Metropolitan Transit Authority vehicle for people with disabilities) waiting for him. The driver was inside, warm and dry, as he watched us straining to help his passenger cross the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
Then he opened the window and yelled over the sound of the rain coming down, "He might not be able to make it today."
"Hold on," we yelled (there were five of us now) as we helped the man move around the back of the van, "he can make it."
Traffic on 84th street had stopped. We caught the man from falling a few times, hoisted him back up, and finally got him to the van door, which the driver then opened from the inside to reveal a set of stairs. The man with the walker would never make it."What about your side door, the one with the electric lift?" I asked.
"Oh yeah," the driver answered, "hold on." He put his coat over his head, came out in the rain with the rest of us, and operated the lift.Once the man with the walker was in safely, we all began to move away when the driver opened the window one more time and yelled, "Thanks for your help."
So, here's my question: Why will five strangers volunteer to help a man they don't know in the pouring rain — and think about the electric lift themselves — while the paid driver sat inside and waited?
Read More >>> A Story About Motivation
