The other day, I was holding the door to the building that houses Pete's preschool, waiting for him to catch up. A few yards behind him was a guy coming in our direction, so I continued to hold the door for him. He did the thing where you jog the last few steps out of courtesy, flash a big smile, and say thanks. I happened to notice that he was wearing a GAP sweatshirt in a very bold yellowish-orange color. Inside, Pete and I went into the preschool on the first floor and the guy went upstairs, where there are some offices, a health club, and bathrooms. So, I hang out a bit with Pete and get him settled, then leave to go do some errands. A few miles away, I have to drive around a fender-bender scene, which involves a delivery truck driver and the guy I had just seen (I spotted the color of his sweatshirt first, then recognized his face). The two men were exchanging insurance info or whatever, and I could see that the front end of the GAP guy's car was smooshed. So I start thinking: What if I hadn't held the door for him? For one thing, he wouldn't have jogged those last few steps. Then he would have had to pause to pull open the heavy door. This would have taken maybe an additional 20 seconds. Maybe that 20 seconds would have translated into an additional delay wherever he was going in the building, or maybe not. In any event, it seems certain that he wouldn't have had that minor car accident, because the timing would have been different.
I think about this sort of thing all the time. Who knows how often some minor action I take has greater repercussions for someone else, and vice versa?
Comments