Compassion without boundaries

The morning rush hour at the Post Office.  One can imagine the rush at the public service utility frequented by many Italians.  We wait for our numbers to be displayed. Old, young, tourists, all have flocked the office. There is hardly anything out of place.  It's clock work, all take their respected tickets, just wait for their turns.  Some of the staff are really charming, the 'ciao' and the 'arrivederci' are in sync with their personalities.  An old man had just reached the counter after his wait, the walking stick is precariously perched on the counter. And then it happens without any warning.  His trousers are down.  There is nothing much to cover his nudity.  Strangely there is only a studied silence.  There is not even a giggle.  What happened next was not from any operational manual.  The official across the counter rose from his seat, got across, gathered the trousers of the old man and helped him inside the office.  There was an assuring arm around his shoulder.  A few minutes later, both of them emerge.  It is just another day at the office.

We spoke among ourselves.  Good that this was this world, where the human being is given the highest respect.  Perhaps in another continent, another country, there would have been sneers, jokes, giggles, suffering and humiliation. Before anybody else could make a move, the official was there.  We were lost in our thoughts, the compassion of the official, who just thought to leave his seat in a gesture of compassion, taking care of the old man, a complete stranger, as if he was somebody dear to him.

Maybe there could be an argument that this was an odd case, may be not. But I prefer to believe that compassion has no boundaries, it is definitely universal.  Compassion could be a universal virtue, but 'to be compassionate' is another thing.  It is easy to theorise that compassion is associated with certain cultures and continents.   It is easy to establish that compassion has its roots in the cultural fundamentals of a race.  But to practise compassion in daily life situations takes a lot of courage and loads of sensitivity.  I was easily ready to  forget all the jeers, all the strange looks and mannerisms that we confront on a daily basis because our skins happened to be dark.  But a single act of compassion was enough to convince me that compassion has no boundaries.