It was Shakespeare’s Malvolio who said, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them". A question that people on the street often ask of me is "what's the best way to interact with other people?" Mostly I respond to this question with a smile and say "be yourself". However, I often feel bad about saying this because it has been statistically proven (in the great Humanity Survey of early 2011) that people generally make poor quality human beings.
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"What do you think other people are like?" - 76,600 respondents. |
It came as a surprise to me then that on my daily commute, observing people with much accuracy and judging them on how they responded to my staring, I saw a man who was not only born with greatness but also had greatness written all over him.
One genteel action set him apart from the wild mob of harried commuters.
He was standing alone, close to the doors and away from the seats. I was too afraid to approach him at first but after steeling myself I stood up and joined him in his glorious standing.
“Good day to you, sir” I begin.
“Hello”.
“So where are you headed?”
“Liverpool St.”
“Excellent,” I say, “That gives us lots of time, at least 20 minutes. I would like to learn from you. What's your name?”
“What?” He pretends to look confused.
“What do I call you?”
“Oh. Alpha Golden.”
“Ah…yes, of course,” I mutter, “that makes sense.”
“Mr Golden, please teach me.” I announce.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand.”
“I want to be great like you. How does this usually happen?”
“How does what happen?”
“My dear fellow. Your modesty speaks volumes. Clearly you were born great. I would like greatness thrust upon me, Alpha, and I think you can help me. You are here, standing amidst all these empty seats because of your conviction and practice in that most ancient and glorious art of chivalry! Many thought that chivalry was dead and that men world over no longer strove for generosity of spirit. That men would happily sit down and let a woman stand, uncaringly ignoring all others save their own selves. I see from your stance that even though there are lots of empty seats, you stand alone in protest of the changing social landscape. You know that few women expect such behaviour and so you pre-emptively stand, rather than make them wait even a moment while you get up from
your seat. Sir, I applaud you. Please teach me all that you know.”
A thought occurs to me.
“Oh. Wait. Am I allowed to call you Alpha? It won't impact our student teacher relationship will it? Should I call you Sir? Shaykh? Master? My liege?” I ask.
“Errr.”
This catches me by surprise.
“Why did you ‘errr’?”
“Erm. What...”
I cut him off.
"Fraud! FRAUD!" I shout. "You cannot be great! A great man knows how to use silences instead of saying " errr" or "erm"! You are a fraud. What do you have to say for yourself?"
He stares at me initially with disbelief that I have discovered his dark secret, but rapidly his cheeks colour and what I recognise to be shame fills his expression.
“I...I...I think this is my stop,” he says as the train slows.
“But this isn't Liverpool St, that’s another 15 minutes away” I say.
Sounding desperate, he says “No, this is where I need to get off the train” but hesitates for a few seconds before jumping out as the doors are about to close.
I follow him with my eyes and as the train leaves the platform I observe that, unable to move because of his shame, he stays where the doors were.
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| An unknown man achieving greatness |
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