positive.
I've been meaning to write about this -- Saturday night I boarded the Green line probably around 10:40pm, at U Street Cardozo, and took it past L'Enfant further down the Green line. There was a guy who stood up, and said, he didn't want to disrespect anybody, but did anybody have any change they'd give him. He walked a bit up and down the car, and was summarily ignored; when he did it again I wondered whether there were security anywhere, as I wasn't so into the being approached thing. But I also noticed he didn't get close to me, and went and sat down, watched by another guy, standing in the doorway kinda official-like. He did make his request again, but didn't move from his seat.
I'd at first assumed the second guy was security, but then I saw the red jacket and the logo, Guardian Angels. My stop came, and I did my usual thing of standing up at the last minute lest I telegraph my intent to leave the car. The Guardian Angel had moved across the car to stand at the door. As I walked past, I turned to him, looked in his eyes, and said, "Thank You." He responded, "Yes, M'aam."
I'd forgotten until then that there'd recently been an attack at L'Enfant*. I just knew that the GA's presence had made me feel A Whole Lot Safer at night on Metro with someone acting somewhat out of bounds on the car.Here, since reading about the feral kids at L'Enfant makes me feel not-positive, I'll mention intern Daniel Hernandez and retired obstetritian David Beal, both of whom ran toward the sound of gunfire to help the wounded, as well as retired army colonel Bill Badger, Joe Zamudio, and Roger Salzgeber who tackled Loughman, and Patricia Maiche who grabbed the ammo clip. brave bystanders.**
Also positive, though also not -- NPR has not let the other victims go forgotten.
{edit: Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, Phyllis Schneck, 79, Christina Taylor Green, 9, Dorwin Stoddard, 76, Dorothy Morris, 76, and Judge John Roll.
* And until just now when I looked up a link I hadn't understood the true horror of that particular newsitem -- I knew nobody had helped, but I didn't know that a pack of kids had stood filming with their cellphones. Maybe this isn't so positive after all.
** linked article doesn't mention that Hernandez is credited with probably saving Giffords's life with his quick action; another particularly cool thing is that the two men who first tackled Loughman are 74 and 61 years old, and Maiche 64.
I'd at first assumed the second guy was security, but then I saw the red jacket and the logo, Guardian Angels. My stop came, and I did my usual thing of standing up at the last minute lest I telegraph my intent to leave the car. The Guardian Angel had moved across the car to stand at the door. As I walked past, I turned to him, looked in his eyes, and said, "Thank You." He responded, "Yes, M'aam."
I'd forgotten until then that there'd recently been an attack at L'Enfant*. I just knew that the GA's presence had made me feel A Whole Lot Safer at night on Metro with someone acting somewhat out of bounds on the car.Here, since reading about the feral kids at L'Enfant makes me feel not-positive, I'll mention intern Daniel Hernandez and retired obstetritian David Beal, both of whom ran toward the sound of gunfire to help the wounded, as well as retired army colonel Bill Badger, Joe Zamudio, and Roger Salzgeber who tackled Loughman, and Patricia Maiche who grabbed the ammo clip. brave bystanders.**
Also positive, though also not -- NPR has not let the other victims go forgotten.
{edit: Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, Phyllis Schneck, 79, Christina Taylor Green, 9, Dorwin Stoddard, 76, Dorothy Morris, 76, and Judge John Roll.
* And until just now when I looked up a link I hadn't understood the true horror of that particular newsitem -- I knew nobody had helped, but I didn't know that a pack of kids had stood filming with their cellphones. Maybe this isn't so positive after all.
** linked article doesn't mention that Hernandez is credited with probably saving Giffords's life with his quick action; another particularly cool thing is that the two men who first tackled Loughman are 74 and 61 years old, and Maiche 64.