The other day when I was taking the T (subway) home, there was a slight commotion on the train.I was sitting there, zoned-out as usual and engrossed in whatever book I was reading at the time (maybe Alice in Wonderland?) when a woman stepped to the center of the car and spoke up. She asked, "Does any body speak Spanish?" Apparently a tourist on the train needed some translation help.
Now, this was a nice thing for that woman to do to begin with, after having assessed the situation, taking the next step to do something more about it when she obviously was no help linguistically. And it could have gone one of three ways. Maybe someone on the train did speak Spanish, but because of our often aloof and self-centered city mentality, she ducked her head down and continued to peruse the latest issue of Glamour. Maybe someone spoke Spanish and actually took the time to step up to the plate and help out. Or maybe no one spoke Spanish, although I would find that rather shocking.
Luckily for the Spanish tourist, someone did speak Spanish and did step up to el plato. A nice young man dressed in biz-cas attire with a laptop bag slung over his arm said, "I do," and I think even raised his hand like in school. He walked over and helped the tourist suss out the situation, which probably had to do with stations and directions.
Kindness not lost translation.
La amabilidad es universal.
