Do What You Can (Part Two)

**UPDATE**

I should note that I had typed up that last post immediately following my encounter with the young man mentioned below. After I had briefly checked for any spelling and grammatical errors, I posted the blog entry from my phone, and went back to listening to some music, catching up on my 'Words With Friends' games, etc. As I mentioned earlier, this trip required taking two trains: the first one from New York City to a town on Long Island, and then the second train which I and the rest of the passengers boarded a few short minutes after that train had dropped us off, to take us the rest of the way to our respective towns. When I got off the train at my station, which happened to be about 2 hours after my rather brief encounter with my disgruntled fellow passenger, I wasn't really paying much attention to the other people around me. All of a sudden, I was forced to stop walking because I abruptly noticed that there was someone not only standing right in front of me, but also looking straight at me. It was the guy from the first train. I honestly had no idea what he was going to do or say (if anything) but I looked up from coiling up my headphones chord and saw that his fist was pointed right at me. I'll admit, this took me a second to evaluate what was happening, especially since when I had first met this stranger, he was anything but pleased to be in my company. He then made it clear that I was "leaving him hanging," so to speak, and I realized what was really going on.

He must have kept thinking about our verbal exchange, our discussion about good and bad, the idea that things have a funny way of working out for the best, and so on, the entire rest of the trip. I slowly lifted up my right arm, made a fist, and connected my hand with his. We each had a ring on the same finger of the hand we had raised, and they lightly pinged together.. an audible connection between myself and this stranger who just 2 hours before, had wanted nothing to do with me. Proof of our casual but deliberate recognition of one another and the surprisingly powerful exchange that had taken place between he and I. He looked me in the eyes, nodded his head with a look of closure and respect, and we headed our separate directions. When I first wrote about this young guy and my interaction with him, I spoke of how these seemingly mundane connections can sometimes truly speak volumes to one or both of the parties involved. This theory may not always prove to be true, but in this case, it was made clear that we both left having gained something from one another. So.. do what you can, if an opportunity presents itself; and don't do it as part of a hunt for personal gain, just wait and see what happens in your unique situation. You may be pleasantly surprised.