This one’s mine:

A friend and I drove over to Fifth Avenue near 9th Street to do some shopping.   

Earlier we’d been talking about feeling guilty because we haven’t really suffered because of the strike. We share an office in Park Slope and can easily walk to work.

When we got back to her car, which was parked in front of Hollywood Video, a Chinese woman asked my friend if she could have a ride. My friend said ‘yes’ without hesitation. 

"You don’t mind if we give this woman a ride, do you?" my friend asked me. "Who is she?" I asked. "I don’t know. She just asked me for a ride."

The Chinese woman was incredibly polite. She kept saying: "How far are you going? You can just let me out anywhere."  At first we were just planning on driving her 20 blocks or so but after a few blocks we decided to take her the whole way. "Where exactly are you going?" my friend asked the Chinese woman, whose English wasn’t very good. "I am going to 41st Street, Fifh Avenue. But you can stop anywhere," she said. "No, I want to take you home," my friend said.

We drove beyond the commercial stretch of Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue and Green-wood Cemetery. At the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot on the outskirts of the Green-Wood Cemetery we saw a picket line of striking TWU employees. Farther up we saw elaborate inflatable Christmas decorations and small houses festooned with red and green lights.

We asked the woman how she had gotten from Manhattan to Fifth Avenue and she said she’d hitched rides and walked a bit. She seemd tired. She said she worked in a school near City Hall.

Around 35th Street or so, there was a nice flag of lights spelling  Sunset Park. The woman said she could get out anywhere. Clearly, she was embarassed by our willingness to drive her wherever she wanted to go. "Where are you are going," my friend said. "I hope you are going in this direction. Do you live up ahead," she asked. "No, we live way in the other direction," I said. "Oh no," the Chinese woman said.

At 41st Street the woman got out. "God bless you," she said. And we did, indeed, feel blessed.