The Kindness of Strangers (New York Style)


“There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”

That was the concluding voice over on the ground-breaking TV series, The Naked City. Today Elizabeth and I have a wonderful New York tale which makes me think of another quote, this one from Tennessee Williams in Streetcar: “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”

I don’t usually do that but today there was no other choice. We were on the way to a doctor – Elizabeth has a back problem – and getting her out of the cab was harder than usual. Always on these trips I am the custodian of the purse and in the struggle I left it behind.

And I always keep it with me while she’s with the doctor. When she emerged from the treatment room she asked for the purse. It didn’t take long for us to realize that I’d left it in the cab. Interestingly, neither of us panicked. She did say, with some alarm, “My life is in that purse!”

I got on my phone looking for the “Find My Phone” app when the doctor said that if her phone was in the bag I should call it. Duh! Of course.

On the fourth ring a man answered. He said his name was Jon and he had the purse. This guy was extremely willing to accommodate. He lived in the neighborhood and after I insisted that I’d bike to his place and pick it up HE insisted that he’d deliver it. We arranged to meet at the 96th street subway station and he’d call back in fifteen minutes. We got a cab and went home.

As we got to our apartment the phone was ringing. Jon: He was in a cab and would meet me on the corner by our house in ten minutes. I told him what I was wearing, grabbed one of my books and one of Elizabeth’s CDs plus a $50 bill and called the elevator.

I waited about ten minutes and was beginning to wonder. Then I heard a voice calling my name. I looked up the street and a young man was jogging toward me with the purse. His cab had gone across the wrong street.

Jon Mak was a nice looking young fellow with a big smile and a generous heart. He seemed delighted with the gifts and wouldn’t even let me pay for his cab.

There are ten million stories in the Big Apple. This has been one of the best.

PS: Jon is in the hospitality business. Here’s his website.

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