How to Put "Decent, Caring Human Being" to the Test?

I’m walking the way home late after spending a few hours in a café writing ideas and looking at itineraries, when I see what looks like two people embracing in the dark on the part of the street left unlit by street lamps. As I come closer, I hear strange sounds. As I get closer it becomes clear that the sounds are wails and laments. It is not two people at all, but an elderly woman alone, embracing a young tree. I pause for a second to see if I had misunderstood, if she is suffering a medical condition. But I see that she is suffering the human condition.

I walk on. I turn my head back once to that scene, thinking of what to do. And so I keep thinking, as the human distance grows with each step and each fleeting thought. But I walk on.

If that tree is the only thing she has to hug, I shudder. I think I gave the wrong answer.