An Instance Of A Man Falling

On the streetcar one morning, a middle-aged man got on carrying a tote bag in one hand and a carrot in the other. He walked to the back of the streetcar where there was a seat, munching on his carrot. As he was about to sit down, the streetcar lurched forward, he went "Mmm...Mmm...Mmm" with a mouth full of carrots, bobbled a bit, then fell into the laps of the young man seated perpendicular to the seat he wanted.

His fall was predictable. What wasn't was the reaction of everyone around him, including the young man's. In that instant as he fell, the back of the streetcar gasped. Six pairs of arms behind the man reached towards him, hoping to catch him. The arms withdrew just as quickly when it was apparent none would reach him in time and that the young man who was to break the older man's fall had things under control.

A child of five sat next to the young man, and beside the child, his mother. The mother put her arm out in front of the child to protect him from the falling man. The child sat looking at the falling man, eyes blinking, mouth askew as if knowing his safety was in jeopardy.

The young man put his arms in front of him, at first to stop the man from falling, but when it was evident the man would land on him, he closed one arm around himself to brace the man's fall and to protect himself and put the other arm out to hold back the falling man so he wouldn't slide to the floor.

It all happened in an instant. Yet several reactions involving several people took place and changed within that split second. It's good to know people made an attempt to save and protect a falling man, including the young man who started out just sitting there with his headphones on, listening to his music and minding his business.

The fallen man got off the young man immediately and sat in the seat he was aiming for. Then he looked at the young man in the eye, padded him several times on the knee and thanked him. It was a sincere expression of gratitude from one stranger to another. The young man smiled and nodded, then went back to listening to his music. It was all over, as if nothing happened a minute ago that united ten people in the back of a streetcar.