Addendum.

And, post-dinner, I was on the subway platform texting a friend and the wind was really really gusty, and I dropped my phone and it fell the right way and it broke into pieces, and the wind carried the back of the cell case over the edge of the platform and into a small puddle by the edge of the tracks.

A couple people nearby saw, and I just shrugged and was like, "Guess I'll have to get a new one," but this one young (black) guy in a knit hat looked down at it and was like (in an accented voice!), "No, I will get it," and hopped down onto the tracks, got it, reached up and handed it to me, and then hopped back up onto the platform, though I warned him not to do it because of the electrified rail.

"Thanks a bunch," and then added, "Though wouldn't it be funny if water was still on it and it shorted out and destroyed my phone."

He laughed, and then I asked him where he was from, and he said he was studying in the city and was just beginning his 1st year of college, and was from Burkina Fasso.

And, I told him I had been there, which made me feel like I was bragging, but we talked about that for a while.