So Shines A Good Deed...

I don't know if I'm just becoming more positive as I get older, but I have come to believe that life is full of small joys. Even on a day that is overwhelmingly crappy or just tediously mundane, something will happen that will bring a smile to your face, even for a fleeting second. These are the moments you must seek out and cling to.

For me, one of these small joys is the ability to help confused tourists. Lord knows, summer brings plenty of these hapless souls to my fair city, and they're not difficult to spot. Whether they're standing on a street corner with an enormous fold-out map, squinting at the CTA layout printed above the door to the El car, or just musing loudly about where they think they're headed, I can detect them from a mile away. In the past I've helped a woman and her daughter who intended to disembark their train several miles past the American Girl Store they were hoping to visit, a family trying to go to the Shedd Aquarium by taking a bus in the wrong direction, and just today, I saved another family from a vacation disaster. This particular family was trying to head to Midway Airport via the Red Line. They thought they'd just get off at the end of the line (which isn't exactly in the greatest of neighborhoods) and wing it from there. I gently informed them that it was in their best interest to switch lines to the Orange Line, which proceeds directly to the airport. Since they were getting off at my stop, I then shepherded them through their connection process and made sure they got on the correct train. Crisis averted.

It may be a little nosy of me to inject myself into these peoples' affairs, but I sort of consider it my duty to help tourists have the best experience possible in Chicago. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude to outsiders, so I like to do my part to make sure that visitors have positive interactions with the locals here. Maybe it's my latent Midwestern hospitality, or maybe it's just my love for the city that causes me to want to show it off to its best advantage, but either way, I can rest easy tonight knowing I've at least done one good deed for the day...