Today, a true tale of heroism that takes place not in a war zone, nor a
hospital, but in Victoria station in London in 2007, during a tube
strike. Our hero – a transport journalist and self-described "big,
stocky bloke with a shaven head" named Gareth Edwards, who first wrote
about this experience on the community blog metafilter.com – is
standing with other commuters in a long, snaking line for a bus, when a
smartly dressed businessman blatantly cuts in line behind him. (Behind him: this detail matters.)
The interloper proves immune to polite remonstration, whereupon Edwards
is seized by a magnificent idea. He turns to the elderly woman standing
behind the queue-jumper, and asks her if she'd like to go ahead of him.
She accepts, so he asks the person behind her, and the next person, and
the next – until 60 or 70 people have moved ahead, Edwards and the
seething queue-jumper shuffling further backwards all the time. The bus
finally pulls up, and Edwards hears a shout from the front of the line.
It's the elderly woman, addressing him: "Young man! Do you want to go in
front of me?"
Author: Oliver Burkeman in "The Guardian Weekend", 28 August 2010
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