A Stabbing Disquietude

Monday, January 28, 2008

Here's the scene:
Small, nondescript building
Filled with many hungry
Windswept sidestreet
Cold January evening, snow and rain in puddles
Silence

I'm dishing out raspberry parfait and yakisoba noodles onto paper plates like no one's business. I make some off-handed comment about homeless people being antsy for food they are getting for free, and I stop.
"AHHH! WHORE! GET OFF ME!!"

I turn. Doblo. There is a man and woman, both with their dukes up, pounding on eachother. Immediately, the ranking adults and volunteer coordinators rush to the angry fighters.
I turn back to the food.
"Man, let's just diffuse this situation, right?
We don't look at it, they don't..."

I just stop talking. No one is listening. I look up at my fellow volunteers.
Their mouths are open,
Their eyes are frozen.
I turn, one last time (I'm thinking to myself that this turning business is getting pretty old):
The man in the fight has a nice dripping blood splatter on the back of his head.
The lady has stabbed him on his head.

Okay,
It doesn't exacly hit me here.
I just feel weird.
I keep stirring stuff, holding plates
Anything to get my mind Away.

Stacy calls the cops, freaking out, still calm, though.
Odd.

The story unfolds,
volunteers go in and out, making sure everything will be alright,
which it is.
Cops come, 15 minutes later.

The funny things:
Ego
Self-importance
Reality

"CAN WE GET SOME EFFING SALAD? I'VE BEEN WAITING HERE LONGER THAN ANYONE AT THIS TABLE!"
Yeah, okay lady,
Seriously, there are over 40 people that need food, so be freaking patient.
She didn't understand that other people are just as important as her.
She continued complaining, less quotably, as the guy was stabbed.
Man, there are some serious conflicting values here.
Hey, MEGA
LOMANIAC

The police didn't come for 15 minutes.
Their station is two minutes away.
"Hey Frank, we got a call at the Service Center. Some chick stabbed a guy."
"I'm eating a doughnut, Spencer, give me a break. Aren't they homeless?"
"Yeah."
"Let's take our time."
No doubt this is not an actual conversation,
But damn did it feel like it was.
They must be: MEGA
LOMANIACS

It's all about what is worth more,
Your time,
Or someone's health,
safety,
Life.
So what's worth more?