Elderly Couple Waiting For Subway Helps Young Man With His Tie, Image Goes Viral

When you’re surrounded by horrible news, sometimes it’s nice to see an image of humans just noticing each other. An image of an elderly couple helping a young man fix his tie in an Atlanta subway station is going viral — because we all desperately need some random acts of kindness in our news feed.

Redd Desmond Thomas shared this image to his Facebook page over the weekend:

The woman noticed a young man struggling with his tie, and enlisted the help of her husband. The image has been shared nearly 16,000 times and liked over a half million times. Thomas says of the image, “I was some distance away (but close enough to hear the exchange), and got even closer to snap this candid photo of the tutorial in progress before hopping on the train. I LOVE THIS!”

There’s nothing phenomenal about this image, it’s simply one that captures a moment of kindness and connection between strangers. But sometimes, that’s all we need to remind us that there is good in the world and remember how important it is to spread joy for joy’s sake. That’s what Thomas did when he posted this image.

After horrific events like the ones that happened last week — two catastrophic terrorist attacks in a matter of days — there are so many emotions that a person viewing them from the outside is likely to feel: terror, sadness, despair — and an aching for humanity as a whole. An image like this, although benign, reminds us that it’s okay to pay attention to the good in the world. Thanks for noticing this moment and sharing it, Mr. Thomas. Spreading joy is always an option — even at a time like this.