People are good.

I see lots of "Good Samaritan" acts living in San Francisco.  Too often people associate city dwellers with inconsiderate, career obsessed, self absorbed jerks {am I missing anything else?}.  I'm not going to deny that those people exist, but I think most of the time I get to witness some pretty amazing acts of kindness as a result of living in a big city.  

Monday, the girls and I were trying to leave the apartment to get some fresh air.  We got down to the "lobby" of our building, and I realized that there was a homeless man lying in front of the iron gate that leads into the building.  There was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to get out the door without running him over with the stroller.  I figured that once I opened up the gate, he'd hear us and move.  I thought wrong.  He just laid there completely conked out.  I wasn't really sure what to do.  We have made friends with a few of the homeless people on our street because we see them so often, but he didn't look familiar.  Most of the homeless people in our area are friendly, but every once in a while you run into someone who is just the opposite and it can get a little sketchy, fast.  

Right away, a mom walked by and she quickly leaned down and gently shook his shoulder asking him if he could move for a moment.  He didn't budge at all.  A few seconds later, some men {about my dad's age} walked up and saw what was happening.  They tried tapping his shoulder, moving his bag, and talking to him… but it pretty much all failed.  One of the men suggested they all lift the stroller over him.  Another didn't feel comfortable since the girls were in it.  To be honest, I wasn't even worried about the girls.  Something just didn't feel right about just "stepping over" a human being.  After a few more nudges and me saying, "Sir…if you can hear us, I have a really big stroller and I don't want you to get hit by it." he finally woke up.  He looked embarrassed and immediately apologized for falling asleep there.  He said he'd forgotten it was a doorway.  I told him it wasn't a big deal and that I just didn't want to run him over with my "wide load."  A few of the men looked at him, reached out their hands, and asked if they could help him up.  He accepted, and together they pulled him up and helped him move down a few feet.

I was really grateful to what eventually became somewhat of a crowd of people, for helping me get the girls outside {heaven knows we need our outings}.  I probably would've given up had I been on my own and just gone back upstairs.  More than anything though, something tugged at my heart when I saw these men cast no judgment on this man as they literally extended a hand to help him up.  He clearly hadn't bathed in some time, but that didn't seem to matter to these men.  I'm not sure if I can really put into words what filled my heart as I watched perfect strangers drop any kind of prejudice to help him up.  It was simple.  It took seconds.  But it was powerful.  

I think there's a good lesson to be learned here; There's power in simplicity when it comes to love.  It doesn't matter if you sleep in a bed, or on a sidewalk in front of an apartment gate.  We're all human.  

Thanks people of San Francisco for reminding me to love harder and judge less.