because jessie is still checking my lj!!!
i'm reposting this from changents. i wrote it this morning..and i feel like i do want to have this occurance in my live journal for future thought.
Last night I had one of the most touching yet sobering moments from the past few months. I saw a real Change Agent take action just by pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.
I was getting dinner with a friend in the middle of Porter Square, Cambridge MA. This area is pretty well known for the amount of homeless people who frequent it. Having lived in Boston for five years, it doesn't really bother me anymore as the homeless have become sort of background scenery at this point (I feel horrible saying that, but it's true.)
Anyways, we were seated near the window and I noticed a bus stopping outside and people getting off. One was an obviously inebriated homeless man (I assume he'd gotten kicked off the bus). He was so intoxicated that he fell down outside the restaurant window. He tried to get up a few times but his balance was so destroyed that he gave up and just sat on the ground. I've seen a million drunk people in this city before and though I felt bad for the guy, I continued with my dinner.
Five minutes later, after countless people had walked by the guy and ignored him (much like what I was doing, I'm sorry to say), a pair of young men stopped. They started talking to him, probably asking him if he was ok. The homeless man tried to stand up, but fell over again. That's when the taller of the two young men whipped out his cell phone and made a call. Then he let the homeless man make a call as well. Three minutes later an ambulance showed up.
The pair of young men walked off as the EMTs attended to this poor homeless man, who I want to point out seemed incredibly cooperative. It's probably a good thing - I had realized at that point just how messed up this guy was-I don't think I've ever seen someone that drunk in my entire life. He probably had alcohol poisoning by then. But thanks to one Change Agent (who doesn't even know that he is one) this man got help that he may have sorely needed. And maybe because of this he survived the night.
Who says city people aren't kind? I continue to be amazed at the capacity for compassion that humans have. The people I have met and work with on this site are amazing...and so are their quieter, smaller counterparts out in the world.
Last night I had one of the most touching yet sobering moments from the past few months. I saw a real Change Agent take action just by pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.
I was getting dinner with a friend in the middle of Porter Square, Cambridge MA. This area is pretty well known for the amount of homeless people who frequent it. Having lived in Boston for five years, it doesn't really bother me anymore as the homeless have become sort of background scenery at this point (I feel horrible saying that, but it's true.)
Anyways, we were seated near the window and I noticed a bus stopping outside and people getting off. One was an obviously inebriated homeless man (I assume he'd gotten kicked off the bus). He was so intoxicated that he fell down outside the restaurant window. He tried to get up a few times but his balance was so destroyed that he gave up and just sat on the ground. I've seen a million drunk people in this city before and though I felt bad for the guy, I continued with my dinner.
Five minutes later, after countless people had walked by the guy and ignored him (much like what I was doing, I'm sorry to say), a pair of young men stopped. They started talking to him, probably asking him if he was ok. The homeless man tried to stand up, but fell over again. That's when the taller of the two young men whipped out his cell phone and made a call. Then he let the homeless man make a call as well. Three minutes later an ambulance showed up.
The pair of young men walked off as the EMTs attended to this poor homeless man, who I want to point out seemed incredibly cooperative. It's probably a good thing - I had realized at that point just how messed up this guy was-I don't think I've ever seen someone that drunk in my entire life. He probably had alcohol poisoning by then. But thanks to one Change Agent (who doesn't even know that he is one) this man got help that he may have sorely needed. And maybe because of this he survived the night.
Who says city people aren't kind? I continue to be amazed at the capacity for compassion that humans have. The people I have met and work with on this site are amazing...and so are their quieter, smaller counterparts out in the world.