Thursday
May062010
There's Still Some Good in this World
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 08:39PM
By Jonathan Kaplan, Ph.D.
Feeling tired, I was headed home after a long day at work. On the subway platform, I waited and watched as all kinds of trains passed by--all except the one that I needed. Even the garbage train honked noisily through the station. My train was nowhere in sight.
After enduring a seemingly unending period of time (like doing zazen with an itchy nose), my train finally rumbled to a stop in front of me. Many others had been waiting with me, so we all crammed ourselves into the crowded car. Collectively, we seemed tired, defeated, and worn out. Just as the doors were about to close, a woman jumped into the doorway. "Someone dropped their keys!" she pronounced. Several of us looked up to notice a jumble of keys in her outstretched hand. No one responded. "Someone dropped their keys!" she stated again. More people started to look at her, while some started checking their pockets.
"Stand clear of the closing doors, please" chimed the automated announcement.
We continued to look at her. "What's she going to do?" I wondered. The doors closed shut, and she shoved them open. "I have your keys!" she yelled. "Check to make sure you have your keys!"
"Don't hold the doors! Step out of the doorway!" boomed the conductor.
Suddenly, a young girl ran towards the door and gratefully grabbed them. "Thank you!" she gushed. The other woman pulled her arm out of the doorway as the doors snapped shut. The train began to move.
As I reflected on what happened and smiled at the obviously embarrassed girl, I noticed an old man leaning towards a young woman next to him. "Just when you start to give up hope," he said, "you notice that there's still some good in the world." Indeed.
Feeling tired, I was headed home after a long day at work. On the subway platform, I waited and watched as all kinds of trains passed by--all except the one that I needed. Even the garbage train honked noisily through the station. My train was nowhere in sight.
After enduring a seemingly unending period of time (like doing zazen with an itchy nose), my train finally rumbled to a stop in front of me. Many others had been waiting with me, so we all crammed ourselves into the crowded car. Collectively, we seemed tired, defeated, and worn out. Just as the doors were about to close, a woman jumped into the doorway. "Someone dropped their keys!" she pronounced. Several of us looked up to notice a jumble of keys in her outstretched hand. No one responded. "Someone dropped their keys!" she stated again. More people started to look at her, while some started checking their pockets.
"Stand clear of the closing doors, please" chimed the automated announcement.
We continued to look at her. "What's she going to do?" I wondered. The doors closed shut, and she shoved them open. "I have your keys!" she yelled. "Check to make sure you have your keys!"
"Don't hold the doors! Step out of the doorway!" boomed the conductor.
Suddenly, a young girl ran towards the door and gratefully grabbed them. "Thank you!" she gushed. The other woman pulled her arm out of the doorway as the doors snapped shut. The train began to move.
As I reflected on what happened and smiled at the obviously embarrassed girl, I noticed an old man leaning towards a young woman next to him. "Just when you start to give up hope," he said, "you notice that there's still some good in the world." Indeed.
tagged help, hope in Interdependence, Subway
help, hope in Interdependence, Subway 
Reader Comments (2)
How is this post about mindfulness?
If mindfulness is about non-judgmental accepting, isn't declaring something "good" a judgment? And the tone of this seems to assume bad is the default until proven otherwise, what with the grumpy set up and all.
Often your posts start out with this same grumpy set up and the rest feels like your own struggle to disprove or distract yourself from this negative assumption. Maybe you're trying to make the contrast more obvious, but I think the dramatization takes away from the message.
"Collectively, we seemed tired, defeated, and worn out". You may be projecting here.
Of course this comment is not terribly non-judgmental in itself, but lucky for me; I am not trying to run a blog on mindfulness.
Hi Laura,
Thanks for your comment. I appreciate your readership and feedback. Occasionally, I do write some reflective and provocative posts, which can be more "urban" than "mindfulness", technically speaking. If you're interested in more "pure mindfulness" activities, please review our downloads, other posts here, and my writings on PsychologyToday.com. We have instructions and reflections for urban-based mindfulness practices all over our site.
I should mention also that we will continue to make judgments as we bring mindfulness into urban living. It's simply part of being in the world. Thus, the intention is not to become devoid of judgments, but rather hold them with more emotional equanimity. For example, we can decide--in a judgmental way--that the subway is "too crowded," but it doesn't have to ruin our day or even the present moment. Mindfulness can help us notice such critical thoughts, and correspondingly give us the space to be different in that moment.