Just a minute

In a European city, I was waiting my turn at the ticket counter to buy a bus ticket to a city about 330 km away.

In front of me was a sixty-year-old woman who was standing between me and the ticket counter, and her conversation with the employee was lengthy. In the end, the employee said to her:

“People are waiting, please step aside!”

The woman stepped aside to make way for me, and before I bought my ticket, I asked the employee about the problem. She told me that this woman had the price of the travel ticket but did not have one euro for the station entrance ticket, and she wanted to wait for the bus outside the station, which is prohibited.

I said to her: “Here is a euro,” and gave her the ticket. I stepped back a little and gave the woman room to return to her place after the employee called her again.

The woman bought her ticket and stood aside as if she was waiting for me. I expected that she wanted to thank me, but she did not.

Instead, she waited to make sure that I bought my ticket and would go to the station to board the bus, and she said to me in an imperative form:

“Carry this…” she said, pointing to her bag. I was taken aback. People here are usually so polite, but her directness was unexpected.

Without a second thought, I picked up her bag and we made our way to the bus together. It was only natural that I ended up sitting next to her - she had been right in front of me in the line. I tried to sit by the window, hoping to enjoy the snowfall that had just begun. As I watched the snowflakes gently erase the colors of the landscape, it felt as if they were whispering: “We bring you peace, and for now, we reign supreme.

The woman insisted on sitting by the window, claiming the spot without saying a word. I decided to focus on the journey ahead, paying her little mind. However, she kept turning to look at me, her gaze lingering on my face. She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her eyes on me. Eventually, her silent scrutiny started to bother me, so I turned to face her.

With a smile, she said,

“I was testing your patience and tolerance!”

I was taken aback. “Patience for what?” I asked.

“For my lack of manners. I know exactly what you were thinking,” she replied. I responded, “I don’t think you know what I was thinking, and it’s not really important.”

She nodded, saying, “Alright, I’ll explain later. For now, I’m figuring out how to repay your kindness.”

I reassured her, “Don’t worry about it.” But she insisted, “I have something I need to sell to repay you the euro. Would you like to buy it, or should I offer it to someone else?”

Intrigued, I asked, “Should I agree to buy it before I even know what it is?” She replied, “It’s wisdom. Give me one euro, and I’ll give you wisdom.”

I questioned her further, “And if I don’t find the wisdom valuable, will you return the euro?” She firmly responded, “No… once you’ve heard the words, I can’t take them back. And I need that euro to repay my debt.”

With that, I pulled out a euro from my pocket and placed it in her hand, all the while studying the features of her face.

Her eyes still held the sparkle of youth, and her sharp gaze hinted at a keen intelligence. Her refined appearance suggested that she was well-educated. I didn’t ask her anything, confident that she would share her story as our journey unfolded. She clutched the coin I had given her, her joy reminiscent of a child receiving a cherished gift.

She began to share her story, "I’m retired now. I used to teach philosophy. I came from my hometown to accompany a friend to the airport. I had spent all I had, saving just enough to get back home. But the taxi driver charged me an extra euro, leaving me short. I thought I could wait for the bus outside the station, not realizing it was against the rules.

I wanted to express my gratitude in a different way when I saw your kindness in paying for me without being asked.

This isn’t about the money. You might say the amount is trivial, but I see it as you acting out of kindness without a second thought."

With a smile, I gently interrupted the woman, “I was expecting you to share your life story, but what about the wisdom I bought from you? Where is it?” She simply replied, “Just a minute.”

I responded, “Alright, I’ll wait a minute.” But she quickly corrected me, “No, no, don’t wait. ‘Just a minute’… that’s the wisdom!” I was puzzled and admitted, “I don’t understand.”

She asked, “Do you think you’ve been tricked?” I shrugged, “Perhaps.”

Then she explained, "The wisdom is in the phrase ‘just a minute.’ Never forget these words. Whenever you’re about to make a decision or pondering over something in life, give yourself ‘just a minute’ - an extra sixty seconds, nothing more.

Do you realize how much information your brain can process in just sixty seconds?

In that minute you give yourself before making a decision, many things can change, but there’s one condition."

I asked her, “And what’s the condition?” She replied, "You need to let go of your instincts and fill your mind and heart with all human values and moral ideals. Then, approach them objectively, without bias.

For instance, if you’ve decided that you’re right and the other party has wronged you, during this minute, when you let go of your instincts, you might discover that the other party also has a right, or at least a part of it. Then, you might change your decision towards them.

If you intended to punish someone, during this minute, you might find an excuse for them, lessen the punishment, or even completely forgive them.

One minute can make you reconsider a crucial step in your life that you’ve long believed to be the right one, while it might actually be disastrous.

One minute might make you cling more to your humanity and distance yourself from your desires and vanity. One minute can change the course of your life and the lives of others. If you’re in a position of power, it can change the lives of a whole group of people!

Do you know that everything I explained to you about this one minute didn’t take more than one minute?

I responded, “True, and I wholeheartedly accept this deal, and the euro is rightfully yours.”

She extended her hand and said, “Here, I’m now repaying you the debt and returning to you what you paid for me at the ticket counter. And now, I thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

She handed me the euro, and I smiled at her, a smile that lasted more than a minute. I noticed as she took my head in her hands and kissed my forehead, saying, “Do you know that it could have been possible for me to wait for hours without a solution to my problem? The others wouldn’t have known what my problem was, and I wouldn’t have been able to ask for the euro from anyone!”

I asked her, “Okay, and what will you sell me if I give you a hundred euros?” She replied, “I will consider it a dowry and I will accept you as a husband!”

Our laughter filled the bus and I pretended that I wanted to get up and leave my seat, running away. But she held my hand, saying, “Sit down, my husband is clinging to me and he is not in the mood to die soon!” And I replied, “Just a minute”… “Just a minute”.

I didn’t expect that time would pass so quickly, so I felt a kind of sadness when she left the bus when we arrived at her city, about halfway through the journey. About fifteen minutes before her arrival, she tried to call her son from her mobile to come to the station to pick her up. Then she turned to me, saying, “It seems that I don’t have a balance.”

So I gave her my mobile to call,

The surprise was that about fifteen minutes after she left the bus, I received two messages on my mobile. The first one indicated that someone had topped up my balance by an amount exceeding 10 euros.

And the second one from her said, “I had a balance on my phone but I tricked you to know your phone number so I can reward you for your good deed. If you want, keep my number, and if you visit my city, know that you have a mother who will receive you.”

I replied to her with a message saying, "When I looked into your eyes, it occurred to me that they were fox-like eyes, but I did not dare to say it to you. I hope that the days will gather us again. I thank you for the wisdom and know that I will sell it for a much larger amount.

The wisdom of ‘Just a minute’, I give it to you. So, who accepts it from me in a time when many hours are wasted without benefit?"

This story is written by Mohamed Abdel Wahab Jasri

and translated by me.