A lovely little tale

I just saw the most amazing thing happen.

This little old lady was standing by the side of a busy road trying to work up the courage to step into the street to hail a cab. About 50 feet away two white cops stood by their cars casually chatting to each other over a Starbucks.

I watched as a young black guy walked up to the old woman and offered to help her flag down a taxi. I couldn't hear what she said, but the relief on her face was clearly visible - she wasn't having any success,
and definitely appreciated the help.

Meanwhile, the cops were standing around chatting and watching this
whole episode unfold. The black guy stepped out into the street and put his hand up in the universal sign for "I need a cab", and not 15 seconds later a cab with no passengers and it's "On Duty" lights on went speeding by.

Obviously, this wasn't the first time the guy had been dissed by a taxi. Shaking his head, he glanced over at the cops with a look of exasperation on his face.

Here's where it gets incredible.

Without a moment's hesitation, one of the cops goes "That's bullshit" and JUMPED into his car and took off after the cab. Sadly, I couldn't see whether or not he caught him because they went around a corner.

It was a heartening little vignette. Everything from some guy helping an old lady get a cab, to the old lady not being all like "Help! A black person!!", to the cops actually doing the right thing. All in all, a great way to end the week.

Posted by flow Frazao on June 18, 2004 at 05:16 PM in Little Stories | Permalink