When Isaac Theil let a sleepy stranger take a little catnap (打盹) on his shoulder, it was because "I simply remembered the times my own head would bop on someone's shoulder because I was so tired after a long day," he said to Tova Ross of Tablet Magazine.
Another subway rider was so moved by Theil's kindness that he took a picture and put it on Reddit, from which it was then posted to Facebook. One wrote "Heading home on the Q train yesterday when this young black guy nodded off on the shoulder of a stranger. The man didn't move a bit and just let him stay there. After a minute, I asked the man if he wanted me to wake the young man up, but he shook his head and replied, 'He must have had a long day, let him sleep. We've all been there, right?'."
Theil himself has been completely surprised at the attention he's received for his small act of kindness, as the photo has been shared over 20, 000 times on Facebook.
"There is only one reason that I didn't move, and let him continue sleeping, that he was simply
a man being who was exhausted, and I knew it and happened to be there and have a big shoulder to offer him."
"It's an honor that people use this as a lesson to just be good to each other," Theil said to Tablet.