I plugged a quarter into the meter. Twenty minutes. That’s all the time I had. I couldn’t afford another ticket, unless this job interview went well.

I turned, and noticed a woman sitting at the bus stop. She was crying. Part of me was saying to leave it alone, like the other people walking by, pointedly ignoring her. But I couldn’t. To really make this world better, I thought, we had to do it one person at a time. Time to put that to the test.

“Excuse me,” I said. She looked at me. She was a little younger than me, pretty, but not beautiful. “Are you okay?” I felt like an idiot. She’s sitting at a bus stop crying. Yeah, she’s just fine.

“No, no, I’m not. Actually, I’m a $200 bus ticket away from okay. I got into an argument with my ‘friends’ I was travelling with, and they dumped me here. No money, nothing.”

I looked up. “Can’t help with the ticket, but there’s a coffee shop across the street if you want to talk.”

“It’s a long story,” she said.

I looked at the meter. 17 minutes. “I have lots of time.”