Tonic Trek: Hero For a Day

It's the third day of a 15-day riverboat cruise, and the local tour director tells us to meet back at St. Stephen's Cathedral (at right) in two hours. From there, she says, she'll guide us to wherever the buses are supposed to pick us up. My friend Andrea, her mom Carolyn and I were literally two minutes late, and the tour guide had left us stranded there. We weren't the only ones. Within five minutes, about 15 elderly people arrived and freaked out when they saw the guide had left already. They didn't know what to do or even where to go.

I won't lie — I thought about letting them fend for themselves for a moment but they were all just too distressed. I told them we would have to take a subway line to the boat, which mortified a number of passengers who had never before ridden a subway in their 70+ years on earth. Needless to say, we had our hands full.

Andrea and I did a head count because we rightly assumed this was going to be a difficult herd to keep together. I almost wanted to ask if they could all hold hands as we walked through the subway station, especially since rush hour had just started and everyone seemed to walk at a different pace. Nevertheless, we got them all into the station, Andrea's mother provided Euros to anyone who didn't have change and I stood at the automated terminal and got everyone their tickets. From there, Andrea and I got everyone down the fast-moving escalators and into the subway cars, and then made sure I huddled them all together so everyone off at the same stop.

When he finally reached our metro station, we still had to walk a bit to the boat, and it wasn't clear which way to go. I went ahead to make sure we were going the right way while Andrea and her mom lead the group down the street. We ultimately got everyone back to the boat only 10 minutes later than the riverboat buses. Needless to say, the group was incredibly relieved.

That first week on the riverboat cruise (which I'm still on), each person thanked me as much as three or four times, which just goes to show how scared these individuals were. I've been bouncing around Europe for months so I thought nothing of it, but these were people who had no idea where to go or even how to ride the subway. If my friends and I hadn't stepped in, the panic would have been much worse.

I'm telling this story for a few reasons. First of all, I'm an ass for thinking about bailing on them even for a minute, but it wasn't like they were asking me for help. It was a reminder that a lot of people are too shy or even to scared to ask for help, and it's incredibly important to take it upon yourself to offer help, especially when it comes to children, the elderly, the disabled and anyone else who could obviously benefit from your assistance. Second, I was rewarded for this tiny bit of hassle by getting adopted by about eight sets of grandparents who still won't let me forget how much they appreciated the deed. Ultimately, my deed didn't require much real effort, but it meant so much to these wonderful people who probably think of "The Warriors" when they think of subways.

In the end, I was made to feel like the hero of the day, and there really is nothing more rewarding than that.