As a recovering addict working to regain stability in her life, Sarah Seldon has a unique appreciation for the kindness of others.
So, when she saw Route 54 Operator Jayne Arendt-Verhelst hand her shoes over to a woman who boarded without them she found the gesture especially striking.
“I’ve been homeless, and I know what it’s like to have shoes that are literally falling apart from walking sometimes 16 miles a day, so this really touched me,” Sarah said. “I’ve encountered so much kindness and if not for that I think I would’ve given up hope. Thank goodness there are people like this who see you and care.”
In the moment, Sarah said the operator appeared nonchalant about the exchange. “It was just logical to her: ‘You don’t have shoes, I do, so let me give you mine.’ It wasn’t even a thing,” she said.
Others who heard the story, though, found it as remarkable as Sarah did.
After Sarah shared the story on Reddit, commenters quickly chimed in with praise for the operator and their own stories about the empathy they’ve seen from other operators over the years.
The online conversation garnered attention on social media, which led Metro Transit to help identify the until-then anonymous operator. Sarah was then invited to visit South Garage to meet and thank Jayne for her selflessness.
The two quickly bonded over their recovery journeys, talking freely for over an hour about how powerful kindness can be in the face of adversity.
And Jayne, wearing a pair of Doc Martens usually reserved for winter, was touched that she’d made such an impression. “I tend to believe that what goes around, comes around,” she said. “It’s all about karma.”
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