I think I did something right?

So, fun story:

Today, I was riding back from Yerevan on our local marshutney. I thought I had the crappiest luck in the world, because instead of one of the normal seats, the driver assigned me to site on a small chair (like the type they have in the schools here) that he had just put in the aisle space of the marshutney. Needless to say, it was uncomfortable, unstable, and most definitely unsafe.

But, when we were a few miles outside of Yerevan, we pulled over at one of those random pick-up points that make no sense to me, and out of no where this little old woman appears and climbs into our marshutney. I assumed that the folks on the bench seat in front would skooch over to make room for her, but instead, the driver magically produces a small foot stool (from God-knows-where..) and puts it in the aisle next to my chair- except that all 4 legs of the stool don't fit in the aisle, one of them is hanging precariously over the foot-well next to the door. The old woman had to cling to the back of the seat in front of her in order to stay upright as we traversed the bumpy road south for the next hour or so. Every time we hit a bump or made one of the many hairpin turns on the mountain switch backs, I looked at this old woman gamely keeping herself more or less in her designated area by hanging onto the headrest in front of her for dear life, and reminded myself that I didn't have it so bad. At least all 4 legs of my chair were on the floor of the marshutney.

Finally, we stop for a bathroom break (really, a smoke break for all the dudes in the vehicle), and I see my chance to do something about this situation. I try to offer to change seats with this old woman. My chair may not be comfy or safe, but least it has a back to it, and doesn't try to tip over every time we go around a turn in the road. The old woman grins at me and shakes her head, indicating I should sit in my assigned seat as we board the marshutney again. But then a few of the guys notice what's going on, and decide to help me out: the make the old woman and me sit in their seats, while they take the chair and stool for themselves. I really appreciated this gesture, and I was really glad that old woman wasn't going to have to cling to the seat-back in front of her for the rest of the long trip home. 

Then, something really surreal happened. As the marshutney started up again, every single person on that van quietly reached into their bags, pulled out an apricot or two, and passed them up to me. Three minutes later, I was sitting on the marshutney, with a pile of apricots on my lap. The old woman next to me patted me arm and grinned at me again. I think I may have finally done something right...