METRO VANCOUVER -- Surrey bus driver Surjit Singh Virk is still smiling about the random act of kindness he witnessed last Saturday on a cold and rainy day coming home on the bus.

He noticed a man wearing plastic bags on his feet instead of shoes.

Virk then watched as another man came onto the bus, heading to Guildford. The man initially took a seat beside Virk, but then he too noticed the man with no shoes and moved across the aisle to be closer to him.

“He (the second man) started to take his shoes and socks off and I wondered why? He slid his shoes over and said he should take them. He said he lived nearby. Wow, I was so inspired by it. It was soul touching. He simply got up and got off at the next stop.”

Virk, who happened to have his phone out, quickly took a photo of the unknown good Samaritan as he walked barefoot away from the bus stop. He then spoke to the man who was putting on the shoes.

“I asked him if I could take his picture and share his story with the people. It was amazing to see something like that. It was one human to another human. It was shocking to witness something like that.”

Virk, who wasn’t working at the time, said he was coming home that day from the Vaisakhi parade, where there was a collective spirit of charity.

But this was different, he said.

“This was a random act of kindness. He noticed something and thought this man’s needs were greater than his own. Then he did something to help.”

kpemberton@vancouversun.com