I had a nice little interlude this morning at an intersection in Jamaica Plain. As I pulled up I saw a youngish man collecting trash. His bike leaned casually against a tree as he purposefully gathered the rather gross remnants of other people's lives. I watched him for a moment and then rolled my window down to call to him. He came to my window and I thanked him. He looked surprised and then smiled broadly and thanked me back. He stated he lived up the street and that as he had rode by the intersection he had felt an urge to do a little extra something for his community.  I agreed that this was a good gesture and as the light changed we parted ways. The moment that we shared was brief, but it was a gentle reminder that even when other's in our communities don't do their role we don't have a free pass. Sometimes when we do that little extra we can inspire others to do their part too and may even a little bit more too. And those little extra bits help our communities to be a whole bit better.