My short story for today involves a scene I chose to participate in outside a pharmacy in the city. As is generally the case, I can't be certain about the true facts, but I choose to believe I had a small influence and feel better about saying something rather than nothing at all. Here is what happened:
We pulled up to a relatively quiet parking spot in front of the pharmacy. In the past this particular area is quite busy with tons of people waiting for transport, hanging around and other general commotion. The combination of a new traffic light (it works!), some recent road work and a Sunday afternoon seemed to have generated a calm and rather sparse atmosphere. Two people were lounging on the steps. One was a young boy wearing multicolored socks-the kind that have holes for each individual toe- and flip flops. A few toes had emerged from the socks and he was curiously waving a small flag of Brazil as he lazily took in the cars passing on the boulevard. The other was a man who appeared to be sleeping. He was propping himself up on his arm and had his legs splayed in such an uncomfortable way that we speculated about whether or not he could actually be deep in slumber. Our friends went into the pharmacy while we continued to survey the scene.
Another man approached the Impossible Sleeper and shook him. No response. Another shake resulted in some swatting away hand movements one might make towards an annoying mosquito but no real conscious reaction. The man took a cursory look into Impossible Sleeper's shirt pocket and walked around the corner. He returned with 3 or 4 of his friends who began to truly shake IS once more. After no response, the group proceeded to go through his pants pockets, look through his wallet, and take off his shoes (snazzy blue sneakers) and belt. As they began to unbutton his shirt, I wondered how far they were going to go.
We in the car pondered what to do. We thought about calling the security from within the pharmacy and wondered where all the normally present police were. I began some conversation through the window, shaking my finger and saying something like "Laissez lui, c'est ne pas bonne." One of the guys looked kind of apologetic at us and told us this man had drunk too much. But he did tap his friends on the shoulder and make some comments, pointing at our car. Of course, after I had gotten all of their attention, my friends in the pharmacy asked me to come in. Which meant I had to get out of the car that was now surrounded by the would-be muggers. Though they did appear to be somewhat friendly muggers. As I made my way up the steps, they told me they were Impossible Sleeper's brothers, a story which seemed to have little merit except for the fact that everyone appeared to be in such good humor. Maybe they were friends of some sort.
I was of little use to my friends in the pharmacy and so came out pretty quickly. By this time, Impossible Sleeper had become Groggily Awake. He had his phone in his hand, shoes and belt by his side and was talking to Toe Socks. Apparently the pharmacy security guard had come out just after I had gone in.
I can't be sure exactly what I witnessed. The whole thing had a kind of college haze feel to it. However, the would-be muggers seemed pretty secure in themselvese. At one point they were walking confidently away with a handful of blue shoes, a belt and a white cell phone. Moments like these offer an opportunity to show us how we will really respond to others needs. So, college haze or not, I'm glad I spoke up and was happy to see Groggily Awake had all of his belongings. Perhaps next Saturday night he will think twice about sleeping it off in the street.
I must also say I am happy-and perhaps a bit lucky-to see the would-be muggers had something of a conscience. At least with others watching, they were able to make the right decision. They didn't run off with their loot or fight for what wasn't theirs, but returned it in good humor. Lessons to be learnt for all.
