Oddbean new post about login | logout Every meet an angel? They never come in glorious angelic appearance, those are always demons. They always have something humble about them. When I was 21 I was walking to the 7 train on the NYC subway and a short Bangladeshi looking fellow wearing a navy sports coat turned around, lifted up his hands, looked me right in the eyes and said “You are a Very Great man”. The expression on his face I will never forget nor the zeal in his voice. I was so stunned I watched him disappear into the crowd. I forget many things but that experience stayed burned into my mind. At the time I was completely lost and dropped out of city college, seeing no future for myself so I just ignored it, but just recently I kept replaying that moment in my mind. The next phase of my life is about to begin and I do admit I am afraid of what is demanded from me. Being great comes with immense pain and stress and being very great means a new level of suffering but I am ever thankful.
I did meet a man who qualifies… He came to me out of nowhere at a time of great distress and conflict in my family, said a couple of words to reassure me that everything was going to be ok, went to other members of my family, said a few words, and left just as he came. The next day in the morning, our conflict was resolved just like nothing had happened. Nobody had ever seen that man before, but I know that he was much more than some random stranger trying to help.