My plans for brunch with friends over the weekend quickly turned into an outing more filled with excitement than I expected it to be.

I was walking along Lingling Road toward Guci Coffee House, situated at the intersection of Wanping Road, just across from the Long Hua Hospital. It is a nice quiet little stretch of road, especially soothing on an autumn morning when the weather has not yet turned cold. There are lots of little food stalls lining the road, with a steady stream of people who live in the neighborhood picking up some snacks. There is a fair bit of foot traffic, but it is not a bustling, busy sort of crowd like that you meet on the larger roads. It is generally just a pleasant spot to walk and enjoy the local scene, with all its sounds, sights, flavors, and fragrances.

As I walked along the sidewalk toward my much needed relaxing “girl time” with friends, I saw a man in his early 30’s or so running in the opposite direction in the bicycle lane. Even though he was moving at a quicker pace than most of the traffic on the road (including most of the bicycles), I didn’t think much of it. Not until I saw, about 100 meters behind him, an elderly man giving chase. The older man started shouting, “Stop him! Stop him!”

By the time it struck me what must have happened, the apparent thief had already passed me by. I turned back, uncertain of what I could do to help. I was surprised to see that on hearing the older man’s shouts, several of the pedestrians walking behind me actually helped. One man turned his bicycle in such a way as to block the fleeing man’s path, and several others grabbed hold of the thief. I noticed several younger men had crossed from the other side of the road in an attempt to assist the older man, but they arrived on the scene too late to be of any real help, other than perhaps dissuading the thief from trying too hard to escape.

I always view Shanghai as a city pretty much full of jaded, world-weary people. I probably have that view because it is, for the most part, true. But even so, it seems that there is something of a sense of decency, a surprising willingness to get involved. It was a very different sight from what I have come to expect, considering other encounters I’ve had in the past.

It’s always nice to know there are still things left in the world that can surprise us.  And even better when those surprises are so pleasant.