Small actions matter

Someone related the following to me yesterday:

He was at a bus stop with an older black woman and a young foreign woman. It was raining. A young black man walked up to the stop with an umbrella and offered the young woman a ride (despite the fact that his car was nowhere to be seen). She agreed haltingly, at which point my friend (ever known for his tact) intervened.

Him: Excuse me--where are you from?
Woman: The Philippines.
Him: Do they have cars there?
Woman: Well, yes (sounding offended).
Him: Did your mother ever tell you not to get into a car with a strange man?

At this point the woman sheepishly said yes, becoming aware of her situation. The man was angry and walked off in another direction (still no car in sight). She then admitted it was odd. For all I know, his intervention may have saved her life. Who knows what was going on with the guy offering the ride?

I told a co-worker this story, and she had one of her own. One of her friends saw a woman who looked to be in her late 70s struggling with a granny cart with several grocery bags in it. He stopped, got out, and showed her his ID, asking if she wanted a ride. She was deaf, but he managed to make her understand his offer. She agreed. He packed her and her things into his car, went down to the light and turned around. As he was coming back, a truck ran into a car, triggering a pileup where the vehicles wound up right where the woman had been standing. She wouldn't have heard the squeal of brakes or otherwise known what was going on behind her until it was too late. Again, it was a small act, but most likely saved a life.

Sometimes it's those small interventions that have great consequences. I guess I'm musing on the butterfly effect. But it also shows that it is always good to act when acting is right. Both men did good by choosing to act. Most people wouldn't want to involve themselves. The good person does good for its own sake and because it is the right thing to do. I admire that, although I don't always choose wisely myself, and I look back on those failures with regret. Inaction is also a choice, after all, and it can have devastating consequences--look at the Holocaust, for example.