I stood up and 47 her over to my table. Quietly, I told her I had seen what had happened, and I was happy to give her my table. I was only going to be there a few more minutes 48 , so I was happy for her and her friend to have the 49 .

“But where will you sit?” she asked. I was almost done eating, I said, and I would find a seat at the counter 50 . She thanked me and beamed as she 51 for her friend to sit down.

Thinking about it as I finished up, I realized that whether or not the woman had fair 52 to the table was unimportant. The emotion of the situation—the look of hurt on her face—had 53 me, and I had the ability to do something about it.

That isn’t always the case with every feeling, situation, or injustice we 54 unexpectedly in our days. But as the early 20th century writer Orison Swett Marden once said, “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. 55 common occasions and make them great.”