SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE

There are moments in life when one is forced to stop, to see the big picture, and put life and its hardships into perspective. When these moments happen, they are refreshing, they make us breathe more deeply, and smile more sincerely. I found myself last night, standing outside in the cold, at 11:30 at night, waiting for a bus that seemed to never come. It had been a long day, after an even longer week, and another long day lie ahead. I was tired physically, and mentally, and had over an hour left in my commute. Needless to say, it was starting to become easy to feel sorry for myself. As I stood there, rubbing my cold hands together and taking the last drag out of my one remaining cigarette, I noticed someone walking towards me. It was an extremely tall, black man, in his late 40s. He was looking at me with the most sincere toothy grin. He walked past me, stopped, looked back over at me again, and said “Wow, you are beautiful.” I blushed and thanked him. I was a little defensive, being alone in the city late at night. There were plenty of people walking by, and he seemed harmless, so I just smiled and went along with it. He commented on my red hair, and asked if I was Irish. I told him I wasn’t Irish, but that people asked me that all the time, and that I could do a pretty good accent. He laughed a deep guttural laugh and told he was from “Nearlins”, and that people would love me down there. He told me about how friendly people are in the south and how much he misses it. It was at this point when I noticed a bottle of beer jammed in his back pocket. Having lived in the city for a few years, I am ashamed to admit that I jumped to many conclusions, one being that he wanted something from me, or was a drunk, or mentally ill. But he seemed totally fine. He looked me right in the eye with a clear mind, was very polite, and had a wonderful demeanor, so despite my reservations, we continued to talk. He talked about fishing, and being a family man. I asked him why he was in Providence, and his response was humbling. He told me that he and his family were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and after burying eleven of his closest family and friends, he was kicked out of his housing. He is a father, as well as a grandfather, and served ten years in the US Army. And yet, here I was feeling sorry for myself. When he told me his history, I got a little quiet, and told him how sorry I was to hear about the people that he has lost. He looked at me with sad brown eyes, and stoically said, “All you can do is smile and have a good attitude and your day will come.” He shook my hand, told me to have a great night, and walked away. As I watched him walk away with a slight limp, my hands got a little warmer, the bus seemed to come more quickly, and everything around me became beautiful.