Ask and you shall receive

Anyone who’s traveled to Mumbai by train will know the meaning of the word ‘crowded’. Your best chance of getting a place to sit is to carry a chair with you. And if you’re standing, you better be prepared to be pushed around for a good two hours or more.

Recently, I was on a trip with a friend. We were travelling from Pune to visit a Church in Mumbai we had heard so much about. We were prepared to stand through the entire journey and that is just what we did. Well, almost anyway…

For the first three hours of our journey, there was a couple sitting right next to where we were standing. We were busy talking about stories of David, Ruth & Esther when this couple decided to get up and give us their seat. Sure, their stop had arrived, but for some reason, they chose us specifically and even took the extra effort to not let anyone else sit there as they got up.

As we sat down, we caught a little girl staring at us. It was a little obvious that she had been standing for a while and she wanted to take a seat. So we called her, saying we’ll make some place for her. She came towards us, pointed at the window and said, “Can I have the window seat?”

My friend, being the lovely person that she is, said yes and got her to sit there.

And I thought to myself - in a train filled completely with people, there must’ve been at least fifteen or more people who would’ve wanted the window seat; and maybe the people already sitting by the window wouldn’t have had a problem giving it up for a while. But the reason this girl was the only one to get what she wanted was because she asked. I don’t think there’s any way she would’ve gotten the seat if she hadn’t told us that that is what she wanted. Imagine if we had said “No”; what would she have lost? Not much! Imagine if she hadn’t asked at all; what would she have lost? Not much! But the point is, she did; and that is the only reason she received.

Just my opinion, but I think that’s kinda cool.