The Suspicious Kindness of Strangers

So a portly white fellow and I were waiting at a very snowy bus stop this morning for a really long time. So long that I almost called a Winthrop taxi, which one should only do in the most dire of circumstances. A Winthrop Viking taxi will typically pick up 2-3 usually elderly people en route to your destination, and you run the risk of acquiring lung cancer before exiting the vehicle, but anyway...

Portly didn't seem phased by the lateness, but I was getting anxious. Suddenly a black SUV pulls up to the corner and the lady driving says, "You goin' to Orient Heights?". She wasn't too murdery looking, just your run of the mill Chinese lady with permed hair, gigantic black sunglasses and a shock of red lipstick. Long story short, I took the gamble, yelled for Portly to join and we both jumped into her SUV. There were only a few creepy moments wherein I thought "this woman wants to wear my hair as a wig", but all in all it was a painless lift.



I think the reason why I was so suspicious is because--who does that? Who is nice enough, and trusting enough to help out a stranger who clearly needs some help? I think of all the times that I've bypassed a situation when I probably should have helped someone but my primary concern is not getting assaulted in any way. It just sucks I guess, that we live in a world where the kindness of strangers will almost always be somewhat suspect.

That being said, if it were a guy in the SUV (perm or no perm) I would have refused the ride, and probably been rude about it, assuming that he was some kind of sex criminal like Bruno Tonioli from DANCEWAR (again,I'm not sure he's a sex criminal, but that's my hypothesis). And Portly would have been no help at all in defending me. He looked like the kind of guy who went through a serious rockabilly phase in college and is just now slowly creeping out of it because no girls will make out with him and he's done some soul searching.

I'm exhausted today. Thank you everyone for reading! If you want to be linked to my fascinating people section, let me know and I'll be happy to add you.

Contemplatively
Erin