more angels

more stories from the city:
a friend of mine and i went to usher for a production of titus andronicus, a shakespeare play i'd never heard of before with a reputation for being the least redeeming of his work. it was an interesting production, for sure, and i'd recommend it.
again, this meant enduring the fun of public transport: hour train ride to the city, short walk to an el, then a city bus. gobs of fun.
i am constantly amazed by people though, and i'll tell you this somewhat sad story. my friend and i, two young white women, are taking an el after dark from the mid-south side (university of chicago area) headed north. our car is essentially empty but for one or two men who are minding their own business.
at one stop we pick up an older man, who starts to make his way towards our end of the car. he starts announcing somewhat absently, "i'm a homeless man, i am looking for change. i am not looking for trouble but just a little help..." etc. he is still at a comfortable distance to not really worry us much, but one of the men who had been sitting in the car saw what was going on. he hopped up out of his seat and into one between the man and my friend and i. he sat there for a moment; the homeless man ended his speech and we told him we had no cash (this was true: we helped a woman trying to make it to a battered women's shelter in elgin. pray she made it.) and stayed at his comfortable distance. the man who had moved seats turned to us and said, "i only moved because he was coming closer," and went back to his original seat.

people are amazing. i don't know what good gets put into men sometimes to make them do things like that--to protect a couple of young white girls on the el from a kooky homeless guy--but i hope it keeps getting there. i hope this man treats every woman like that. granted, he moved back to his seat, but i have faith that he would have moved back had anything happened. perhaps this faith makes me naive. i'm okay with that.
the world of men may be fallen, but there are still angels out there.