I took today off because I had a long standing booking to watch a matinee of one of the Met Opera broadcasts at the local cinema. It was Parsifal, starring Jonas Kaufmann who I mentioned a few posts back.
It started at 1pm. At about 12.40 I was at the bus stop waiting for a bus. I wasn't late but I wasn't especially early either. At that point a rather dishevelled older woman, who I'd never seen before, approached me and started talking. She said she had shingles, had a hospital appointment and was feeling very unwell. Then she started crying about how she had no-one to go to the appointment with her. The thing is, I know how that feels. I've been in that position and it's awful.
But... day off... very expensive prepaid opera ticket... favourite tenor... only chance to see it...
So I told her to sit down and to take the bus to the hospital instead of walking which is what she had been planning to do. I then told her I really hoped her appointment went well and got on the bus to the cinema, where I simultaneously really enjoyed the opera and felt like an utterly awful human being. And still do.
What would you have done?
I would have done the same as you - definitely wouldn't have gone with her, even if I hadn't had an expensive ticket to the opera. Your kindness in listening to her and reassuring her probably helped. If you felt guilty about everyone who had to do unpleasant things alone, where would it end?
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing, really. It was kind of you to reassure her and come up with a helpful suggestion, but you shouldn't feel the least guilt because it was way beyond anything reasonable. And I'm afraid that, if you had dropped everything and gone with her, you'd probably be stuck with her for life, and she'd be an extremely demanding hanger-on. I'd have gone to the opera too and felt mean about it though, just like you.
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