the kindness of strangers

this morning i was prepared to walk in the bitter cold, over the williamsburg bridge, and attempt to grab a cab once i got to manhattan in order to come into work. i bundled up in layers of clothes and with ipod and new camera in hand, i was out the door.

as i was walking along bedford ave, a woman in a SUV called out to me:

Woman 1: Are you going to Manhattan?

V: Yes

Woman 1: Do you want a ride?

V: Yes!! Thanks so much.

There were two other women in the backseat so I got into the passenger's seat in the front. They all introduced themselves. At first I thought they all knew one another, but after a few minutes of comfortable but superficial conversation I realized we were all strangers. We made small talk about the strike, when it would end, what we all did yesterday in terms of work, etc.
The driver was going to the upper east side, Park and the 50's. The other girls were dropped off on the other side of the Williamsburg bridge and around E 14th & 1st Ave. I was the last drop off and got off at 33rd and walked a few blocks over to Park. So, what I expected to be an hour and a half commute turned into a 45 minute commute.

I was lucky. Another girl that works in the office who lives in Long Island said that it took her over three hours to get home. She was waiting outside Penn Station for an hour and a half just fighting the crowds to get to the LIRR. Guess it's the whole survival instinct surfacing.

Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to get home. . .