Obliging + Valiant

Yesterday, when I was on the way to a nearby seven-eleven store to have my DiGi number's credit reloaded, I had met with an old lady by accident, who was almost my grandma's age was sitting on a pavement, exactly in front of a drugstore. The aged woman hopelessly watched the heavy pedestrian traffic on the pavement, rubbing both her hands with her knees. At that moment, I could surmise that the woman must be having a slip and fall before she sat on the sidewalk, since as far I know, nobody have ever taken or would like a rest on the dirty pavement.

Meanwhile, I moved to a very slow walking pace and I stopped when there were perhaps ten paces between me and the old lady. I beheld the lady in a furtive or circumspect manner as I was having a hesitation about what to do next: Keep on moving to 7-11 store or doing the opposite way.

Well on that time, I had many facts to chew upon before I could make up my mind whether or not to help the old lady - I chose to have my phone credit topped up at the end without acting out my compassion for the lady. One of the factors leading me to have such utterly ruthless decision was due to my doubt or uncertainty about the woman's actual need.

When at home, I started to feel a pang of remorse for being over-rational when coming to lending my hands to somebody in need of help. And in the end, the decision that I thought to be the most rational one was actually the most irrational one. :(

Never try to rationalize the role of a Good Samaritan. Sometimes, we would have found helping the needy to be an irrational act, well, at least we would feel gratified to see how much our work (our help) is appreciated when others say 'Thank you'. An obliging person is not necessarily a valiant person, this is what I am trying to say.