twenty-nine: print

On the rare occasion that a restaurant gives out free food to the needy they’re considered charitable,
Doctors who give out free medicine are considered saints,
There is an entire genre of film about Lawyers taking on cases with out pay.
In every student’s educational career they will be told, “knowledge is the key to success.”
College textbooks for a semester can cost more than a month’s rent,
The history of free civilization is a documentation of the democratization of knowledge,
So why then should it be common to see a bookstore doling it out to anyone on the street?

twenty-eight: caught

Sunday before Christmas: the time when people begin to start making their obligatory holiday visitations.
The BART is filled with bodies holding serious relative hangovers.
A younger couple sitting due to obvious family fatigue gets up for an older couple, dawning fresh grandkid smiles.
The subway begins moving as the old man tries to sit.
He nearly falls onto his back, the young man leaps into action, catching him before he hits the floor.
The BART erupts in applauds,
The old woman pulls a candy bar from her purse, however the smile on the old man’s face is reward enough.

twenty-seven: a lift

It is one of those age old tests of “do gooderness”
A stranded driver with no wallet or cash
An empty tank and no AAA card.
Here, tonight we are privy to the gas can half full.
As someone not only opens their hearts and pocketbooks to a stranger, but also their car door,
They both climb in and pull off to a fueling stop.
With all of the potential urban myths, all of the possible combinations of misread body language or mistrusted intentions here is an example of everything turning out the way it’s supposed to exactly on time.

twenty-six: weight

It’s hard to imagine an environment more saturated with socially constructed ideas about hetero-normative masculinity than a college gym.
Yet here, one man holds another’s hands in a way that is unconventional and so very strong.
One of the men happens to be nearly paralyzed, with no control over his hands yet still has power over his arms, the other able bodied, clasps the hands of his friend around this odd contraption.
They work together, making the wheels turn, at times the lines blur between who is spotting whom.
Some go to lift weights,
They go to have weight lifted.

twenty-five: cramming

Empirical evidence gleaned from repeated and recent observation seems to suggest that, Regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual preference/orientation, field of study, level of education, national origin, musical preferences, recycling practices, political affiliation, previous experience or developmental familial dynamics,
When entering the Moffit Library on the UC Berkeley campus on the sixth night of finals the overwhelming majority of people hold open, open, or wait for members of a following party and then reopen the massive set of double glass doors, for strangers, members of the same or different sex, race, or gender ect…
Conclusion: on average, people are OK.

twenty-four: a full ride

Maybe its because it’s the holidays, its cold and wet outside, its late and unsafe for the young lady.
Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere else to be.
Or maybe it’s because there is nowhere else he would rather be.
She’s closing down the pharmacy, on vacuum duty.
He barrowed a friend’s car, unannounced and drove across the city to resuscitate a bit of chivalry.
They both play a bit indifferent and coy.
He walks behind her returning displaced items (also her duty), both smiling radiantly when out of eyeshot.
Maybe it’s what couples do, but it’s still nice to see.

twenty-three: to serve and protect

“Excuse me miss” is a common opener for “can you spare some change” or “what are you doing tonight.”
Unwelcome callers in this college town use both with numbing frequency.
Not often then are followed up with,
“Do you know where the police station is?”
She doesn’t, but does have an iphone and tells this rare character to hold on while she looks it up.
As her technology fails them, she confesses to vague notion of where its location and offers to walk with him.
Smiling, he declines.
Perhaps the human contact was the only real security that he needed.