Or maybe not.

I was on the trip home one day last week engrossed in reading something on my phone when I noticed a commotion behind me. We were stopped at Jamaica and an unruly passenger had come into my car, loud, angry, carrying way too many bags and disheveled. He was yelling at everyone around him and clearly making the crowd nervous.

With that a woman who could have ben his grandmother jumped in and asked him what was wrong. Still loud and angry, he told her that he had been sleeping on the last train and left his ticket there. He clearly didn’t have any money to ride and the conductors, seeing the commotion, were on their way up the aisle.

But grandma was having none of it. She wasn’t about to let this man cause trouble for anyone, including himself.

First, she took money out of her wallet to pay his ticket. That took the pressure off. Although I have to say the conductors who came over to help were all of the right spirit to try to diffuse an escalating situation and calm an unhappy passenger.

Once the ticket was purchased, grandma just started talking to him like a human being. Like a person with feelings and who was clearly in a bad place. What a concept. That said, she wasn’t soft on him. She gave him hard advice about how to comport himself on the train and how to interact with people. He listened. He didn’t challenge her. He seemed to be showing her respect.

I don’t really know how the story ends. I lost track of both players in this story. But I do know that a story like this reminds me how amazingly giving and supportive people can be when they just reach out.