I believe in people

My friend/colleague/fellow blogger colouringitpurple recently posted about an experience we shared late last week ("Why don't people care just a little more?") at a local fast-food joint. The incident and fallout have been on my mind since then.

There are cold people out there. There are people who pretend not to notice as they walk past an outstretched hand. There are people who turn up their iPods or pull out a cel phone when they see a homeless person on the next block. There are people who don't hold doors or give up their bus seats for for the elderly or infirm. There are people who don't step out of line to help someone who really needs it, no matter how easy it would be to do so. It is wrong and it is sad. However, for me to sit here and pontificate and pretend that I've never been one of them would be hypocritical in the extreme. I could do more. A lot more. Everyone out there who is as well-educated, well-paid, well-housed, well-fed and able-bodied as I could do more for those among us who require assistance. It's not always about spare change. It's a steadying hand under the elbow of an elderly or disabled person on an icy sidewalk. It's a coffee or a sandwich for someone who says they are hungry. It's helping someone get a drink of water when they are thirsty. Sometimes, it is simply a smile.

I stood in line and watched my friend's face tighten and go red with shame, anger and sadness. I watched her step out of line to try and help someone who needed it. I sat across from her after and watched her cry over the injustice to which we had just borne witness. I asked her to tell me what she was feeling and I listened, meekly dunking fries one at a time. She told me that it makes her sad to see people being overlooked. She told me that it breaks her heart to see a person who obviously needs help from someone - anyone - being judged or looked down upon rather than being lifted up. She told me that she has been that person, the one who needed help but was helpless to ask. I felt humbled.

My friend is a scholar and an activist and an artist. She is fighting for social justice both at home and abroad. She is a woman with a disability - although I don't think I've met anyone more 'able' than she. I sat in that restaurant and looked at myself through her and saw a need for change.

Thank you, my friend, for making me believe in the good in people...and for taking some of the chill out of this city of ours.