The Man on the Subway

[sdelmonte]

At 67th Avenue on the R train this morning, I was trying to either think or sleep. Probably both. An elderly man sees me and says "penny for your thoughts." He decided I was in deep thought.

He sits down and begins a conversation. Turns me he just got back from doing relief work in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi with the Salvation Army. Tells me about the other things he's done as a relief volunteer, from Africa to Chernobyl. Tells me his name.

Being curious, I decide to look him up on Google when I get to the office...

http://www.newyorkcityrotary.org/bill/

His name is Billy De Long and at age 85, he's still going strong, still going where there is a need and still helping people.

I don't start up too many conversations with strangers on the subway. I was very tempted to smile and try to go to sleep. I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad that I can say I met such a person.

Comments

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

BsL was completely screwed up by Katrina. We had folks down that way, while I was a bit to the east, with power, at least. (No potable water, but power at least.)

[batyatoon]

Yay for random encounters!