I arrived at the Service Ontario office, and took my place in line behind 15 people. Everyone had their headphones in, were texting, immersed in their own private lives. Grumbling about the line. The wait. A woman behind me complained out loud about another woman who wanted to cut the line. And there was this elderly woman, maybe 85 years old, who got up from her chair, to ask the ladies at the counter for a bathroom. She was barely able to walk. They said no, as I’m sure they have to. And she turned round and went back to her seat. You could tell she was in discomfort and her son had left her there to go and fetch some missing paperwork about 20 minutes earlier. She was alone.

Without realizing it, I left a bag of $350 worth of purchases and my purse sitting on the ground, in line, as I went to help her put her coat on and take her to the washroom next door. I realized I’d left all my things and the lady behind me in line, said, “Don’t worry, I’ll watch your stuff!” And then all of a sudden, all these people who were completely disconnected, started pitching in and helping. People opened the door for us, picked my coat up off the floor…. held our spot in line. 

I walked the woman next door, waited for her in the bathroom as she told me stories of Greece and her long life. She held my hand and captured my heart in about 20 minutes worth of time. Then she asked me if I was married. I laughed.

We returned, the line up hadn’t moved… but I had been.

The air felt different in that office, for even just a minute.