Two kinds of people

When my son was applying to colleges, one school asked a great question.

"There are two kinds of people in the world. What are they?"

So this would be my answer: those who care and those who don't.

NOT CARING

I'm meeting Susan for an early dinner near Lincoln Center when a car pulls over to the sidewalk, near where I am standing. A woman gets out of the car with a bag of trash in her hand. A plastic bottle noticeably falls to the ground as she is exiting the car. I watch as she walks to a nearby trash can and tosses her stuff. She then walks back to the car, steps over the bottle she'd dropped, and gets into the car. Unbelievable! I can't help myself. "Aren't you going to pick that up?" I ask. And before the woman has a chance to say anything, the male driver leans over and says, "No. She did that on purpose," obviously being sarcastic. I am left speechless.

CARING

I am walking along the beautiful esplanade on the East side. I get in about 30 miles/week, and typically do the same route. 

On one particular morning, I am going back and forth between a small stretch, as rain looks likely and I don't want to be caught in it.

After a few up-and-backs over the same walkway, a young girl stops me.

"Are you all right?" she asks.

I'm not at all sure why she is asking, but I nod in the affirmative, remove my airpods and ask, "Why, do I not look all right?"

"Oh no," she replies. "You look fine, but I saw you walking back and forth a few times and just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I'm guessing that from her perspective, she's seeing grey hair, older woman, mindless pacing, must be dementia.

Yikes. I appreciate the caring, but it makes me wonder (well, actually know) that how I look is not how I think I look. Or feel.