I was on the subway today just before noon when a woman walked through the sparsely populated car and nervously placed seven white index cards near the seats of seven passengers. Without establishing eye contact, she just placed her cards where people could pick them up or lean forward to read them. The capitalized words on the card were written in a shaky hand. There was no punctuation.

I HAVE 1 CHILD I LOST MY JOB PLEASE IN THE NAME OF GOD HELP ME PAY FOR MY RENT AND FOOD.

By the time, I looked back up and was starting to grope for my wallet, the woman was walking back down the aisle, gathering her cards. I looked at her face. She seemed to be about twenty-four.

Five of the seven of us gave her money. It was an easy thing to do. Then, when the subway car doors opened at the next stop, the woman walked through them, wordlessly, head bowed.