helpless

"Know what the sin of the Pharisees was?  They didn't take action."

This was an intial reaction to one of the most difficult situations I've found myself in since being in Philadelphia this year.  It happened on a trolley going towards West Philadelphia.  This week, I've been helping with a college group that has given up their spring break to volunteer at BSM and around the city.  The past few days we've been going to a rough elementary school to volunteer.  Stories to come about that experience later...

So anyway, THIS story takes place before we even get to the school today.  We're heading westward on the trolley when all of a sudden we all smell something that assails our nostrils in the worst way possible.  We soon realize that it's coming from a man who just entered the back door of the trolley, not paying the fare.  A group of 4-5 boys sitting in the back of the bus immediately get up and move towards the front.  The old man mumbles something unintelligible, though it sounds like he says something about "hurt my feelings."

After a couple more stops, the driver stops the trolley, stands up, looks towards the back and says "You gots to go!" Snickers erupt from the trolley.  The man continues to mumble, and is defiant about not getting off the trolley.  Another driver who was riding with us gets off the tram, yelling, "you stink" to the man from outside.  Another man on board gets very upset, saying that if the guy doesn't get off, he's going to make him get off.  Someone hails a nearby policeman, at which point the defiant man finally gets off the bus.  The riders hail insults at him as he gets off.  We continue to be glued to our seats, dead silent.

I check in with the group once we get off the trolley.  We're all a bit rattled after the horrible display of hate we just witnessed.  Despite the man's demeanor and appearance, there was NO reason for him to be treated the way he was.  And we felt crummy for not stepping up. We felt like those who passed by the guy attacked by robbers on the side of the road.  We did not take action, did not care for the least of these in that moment.

Situations like these are extremely complex.  A perfect response is impossible.  Intervening can only agitate already unstable people and make situations worse.  If we weren't in such shock, we could have engaged the defiant man and invited him to get off the trolley WITH us, lying down to suffer with those under ridicule and hate.

We're not perfect.  We do the best we can.  This is an unfortunate reminder of our human condition and our need for a deeper hope and love among one another.  Saying the right thing to do is easy.  But making it happen is so much more difficult.  We've all got a long way to go.