What do you do when you see this?

 Lengoo - Crying

The other day, I had finished my lunch time workout at the gym when I saw one of the girls who takes one of the classes with me. I thought I’d go and say HI as I’d not seen her in ages..  I don’t know her that well but enough to say hello and ask about the weather!

Anyway, I stroll up and say my hello and ask how she is. She doesn’t greet me with the usual dazzling smile that she has but she looks confused. I am quite not sure how to respond at this instant as the confusion in her face, sets off the confusion cells in my brain… then, in a split second, her eyes well up and and there are tears streaming from her face.

I am usually quite good at firing off any type of verbal response but I have no idea what to say when some bursts into tears. There are still tears streaming from her eyes and still not a word from her to say what’s wrong.

The usual English thing is to say “Are you ok?” but isn’t that a stupid question to ask when it’s obvious that she’s not ok? I stare at her blankly…

Then she blurts out that she has just found out that her mother has cancer and that she is at the gym to cancel her membership.. then more tears… I really didn’t know what to do at this stage, do I hug her? Do I wipe the tears from her eyes? Like a rabbit in headlights, I stared at her and offered not a word! It was really awkward, all I can offer is a sheepish smile.

It was quite awkward, do other people experience this? How best to respond? Also, it’s easier if it’s someone who you know relatively well as you would know about them and their life but if it’s just someone who you know from the gym (I’m not even 100% sure of her name) then what do you do? I asked a colleague of mine and he just said that she was psycho… he said that it’s not correct for someone who doesn’t know you that well to do this!! What do people think??