Self Centered Sweat-shine

Last night I dreamt that I was in High School. I was trying to be a big shot on the baseball team. I had a handicapped friend with severe cerebral palsy whom I was responsible for helping get around the school. In order to go to the baseball tryout I had to leave my handicapped friend in the locker room all by himself. I had to put him in a closet room to make space. I came back after the tryouts to find him missing. After panicking, the coach startled me as he emerged from a side closet within the closet. He reamed me for leaving my friend abandoned. He assured me that he was in a safe place, but he desired to teach me a lesson and that I needed to reach new moral grounds before he would have me a star on his team.

I awoke drenched in sweat despite the AC on full blast.

This morning on the bus an old lady got on, swiped her card. It flashed an insufficient value and the bus driver tried calling her back. The old lady waddled to her seat. The driver called over that she still owed a dollar on her fare. The old lady didn't hear. Finally the driver got the old lady's attention and she rose to swipe her card again only to be badgered by the bus driver. I searched my wallet for bills to help her out of this demeaning situation but had no bills. A lady sitting near the old lady retrieved a wallet to help the old lady but the bus driver told her not to because the old lady just didn't want to pay and didn't deserve the help. The old lady wound up riding without being forced to pay the dollar but certainly had to persevere death glances from the driver. I felt the bus driver's attitude unnecessary but didn't have the guts myself to tell her to knock it off.

Bus Hero

Yesterday on the bus I saw a seeming pariah become a hero. An african american rudely squeezed passed a guy in the aisle, grunting "trying to get by." The guy responded with "well, pardon me works." The pariah dude kept asking people how long it should take to get a letter from Florida. A girl who unplugged from her ipod to answer said it may take a week. He didn't seem to believe her so he kept bugging people getting the same answer. Then someone tried to exit at the rear and pulled down the red emergency exit rod, which sounded an alarm and stopped the bus. It was jammed and until it was un-jammed the bus was unable to proceed. So the pariah dude pitched in with his muscle to try to un-jam it. It took awhile and people were getting impatient but he was able to get it free and back into place so the shrill alarm stopped sounding and the bus could continue on its way. Everyone cheered and someone called out "we have a hero!" And I felt really happy for the pariah's pride. He was now appreciated. A hero. Well done.