Colour
Supplement
Articles
by Christians around the world
Sunday 3 June 2007
City scene
by
John M. Buchanan
Sometimes life in a
big city can feel impersonal, almost inhuman. On
the streets the taxis vie for pole position at
the stoplights and cut one another off to get to
a fare. On the sidewalks people beg for money,
holding signs that say things like "Homeless.
Hungry. Help."
But sometimes the city feels so grace-filled it
almost makes me weep. I often ride the bus from
the church where I work on North Michigan Avenue
in Chicago to the offices of the Century on
South Michigan. The bus takes twice as long as a
cab, but it costs much less and almost always
yields something interesting.
The other day I got on the No. 151 bus and
started to read. At the next stop I watched as
an elderly white woman boarded the bus and
wasn't sure about how to use her transit card.
She inserted it upside down, then backward.
While the other passengers became increasingly
distressed by the delay, the driver, a very
pleasant African-American woman, patiently
explained how to use the card. "Here, honey, let
me do it for you," she said, leaning out of her
seat, one hand on the wheel. The woman finally
walked toward a seat but then turned back. "Are
you sure it took only one fare from my card?"
she asked the driver. "I heard it beep twice."
"Yes, I'm sure," the driver answered. "But I
heard it beep twice: it took two fares." "No,
honey: it only took one fare. It always beeps
twice." "How do you know?" the woman demanded.
"Here, let me show you. Come on up here and look
at the indicator. There it is, your one fare."
By this time the stoplight had cycled from red
to green twice. Finally we were under way.
At the stop after that a man in a motorized
chair pulled the cord. He was frail, and one
could see the tubes from the oxygen tank that
was helping him breathe. "I'm on my way to the
V.A. hospital and I'm going to need some help,"
he announced. Again the driver responded
graciously. She helped him negotiate his
motorized chair to the door, told him how to
position the chair for the mechanical lift,
asked him to adjust the position an inch or two,
and then activated the lift. The process took a
long time. You could sense the tension and
impatience of the people on the bus. The
stoplight cycled a few more times and motorists
honked. The driver, unfazed, remained infinitely
patient. She was a note of grace on that busy
urban thoroughfare. As I got off the bus, I
thanked her for her kindness. "Just doing my
job," she said. "You have a blessed day now,
honey."
John M. Buchanan is
editor and publisher of the Christian
Century.
Copyright
2007 CHRISTIAN CENTURY. Reproduced by permission from
the May 15 2007 issue of the CHRISTIAN CENTURY.
Subscriptions: from $49/year from P.O. Box 378, Mt.
Morris, IL 61054. 1-800-208-4097. Visit the
Christian Century website.
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