A lot can happen on an elevator ride inside the subway system.
On what appeared to be just another day, I entered the elevator at the platform level at Metro Center with a small bag of groceries. A middle-aged man grumbled as he followed me into the elevator and the door closed behind us. I asked if something was wrong.
"Yes I left something on the train just now!" And he shook his head repeatedly, clearly under duress about this.
"Oh no! Well they have a Lost and Found – maybe it will turn up," I offered.
"No. It was trash."
I eyed him quizzically, silently. Who cares about trash after all? Who was this guy?
"I had all of this luggage to manage and yet I really wanted to make it a point to carry my trash off the train and throw it away." He continued to shake his head in apparent disgust with himself.
I wondered whether it really was leaving the trash behind that was bothering him but I did appreciate that he expressed wanting to do the right thing.
"It's good of you to care. But remember, the cleaning folks have seen far worse than what you probably left behind."
He seemed to think about it a second or two and then nodded and thanked me as the door opened to let us out into the upper station.
It's funny how an entire conversation, with resolution, can occur in such a short time. And I was very glad that he seemed to feel better as he left the elevator to go on with his day, whatever the source of his discontent.