Lost Shoe...Found Hope

This is dedicated to the NYC stranger, Michael: My knight in shining armor.

Through the growth of this movement we have incredible opportunities to meet both amazing women and incredible men.

On my way to an important meeting with a radio celebrity, I hopped on the subway at Spring Street, NYC. While rushing to board the train, my shoe incident began. My heel got caught in the lip of the yellow painted line at the edge of the platform. I stumbled onto the train and right out of my shoe! Before I knew it I was standing on the train a little shell shocked, missing one shoe. As I turned, the dread flowed through me as I then witnessed, in slow motion, my remaining shoe’s birth twin tumbling with grace onto the tracks. Two men gently ushered me back onto the platform to try to retrieve my now orphaned shoe. I embarrassedly hopped over to the booth and told the unusually attentive MTA worker what happened. She radioed men to the tracks to retrieve it; she stated it would be a while. Using the most feminine and nimble stair hop I could manage, I rose to street level in search of a pair of surrogate shoes. I was never so happy to see H&M! I hopped over there, hopped to the shoe department, bought a pair of cheap flats and ran full speed back to the subway straight to the attendant. “D’re gonna haf-ta stop da trains ta get da shew. Whadda-ya wanna do lady?” I thought of my shoe with a sad mourning. My SIC meeting was vital to the greater good of the SIC community. The interview was important. I knew I had to sacrifice one, for the good of the many. Shoe abandonment; left on the tracks in the filth, with the rats and of course no shoe in sight to keep her company. It broke my heart, but sometimes our hand is forced. I took a moment of silence. “No, please don’t stop the trains I have a very important meeting and I need to get uptown.” She started to say something about the shoe becoming the property of the NYC transit. Right then is when a gentleman handed me a Duane Reade plastic bag and said “Excuse miss I got you a pair of flip flops.” On autopilot, I took the bag and said thank you. In a blink, the man was gone.

Then it hit me: Something wonderful just happened. This man wanted nothing in return. A complete stranger went out of his way to help me; A purely selfless act. I ran to the stairs a shouted up to him, “Hey wait, what’s your name?” “Michael” He shouted back, and then kept going. My thank you to him was not just for the shoes, but for restoring some of my faith in the direction of the world. I heard the train pulling in and I turned to catch it. While I was on the train, both shoes on, I opened the Duane Reade bag and found a pair of black flip flops with little diamond studs along the top. I sat in amazement of what just happened. Though I was running late for this very important meeting, a sense of calm clarity came over me.
My life is beautiful; full of family, friends and strangers helping me get where I need to go. I know I am on the right path.
Smart is Cool -Erin