I'm always impressed by the goodness of people. Most people. Nothing you can do about a few bad eggs. I mean, like, the other day, or the other night, I mean, I was in an alley behind Deep Six, that old pub on Watershore Avenue. And I was jimmying the wheel lock on a guy's bike. It was about 4 in the morning, so I figured no one would be around. And things were pretty tranquil. But I forgot Deep Six closes after 3, so I should have expected some lush to stumble out. And sure enough, just as I'm hotwiring the bike, out stumbles this drunk in a brown leather jacket. A brown leather jacket! Just what I need while I'm working.
"He looks at me, squinting to focus, and says, "What are you doing?" I say, "I'm good, thanks, and how are you?" I guess he wasn't as drunk as I thought, 'cause he yelled back, "I said what are you doing to my bike?"
"Is this your bike?" I said. "Damn straight," he said, hitting his chest like Tarzan.
"Well, you see, my wife's real sick," I explained, "and I really need to get home to her."
He didn't buy it, so, to make a long story short, I bought him a few more beers at the local 24-hour, and me and him had a nice chat, without involving anyone else, you see. We settled it like gentlemen. In the end, this swell guy agreed to let me steal his bike on an installment plan. So now I've only got to make monthly payments for the bike at slightly lower than the market value. Like I say, I'm impressed by how good most people are! When the time is right, I'll be sure to do business with him again and I've already recommended him to my colleagues. This layaway theft deal is a dream come true.
2 comments:
I am utterly lost between deciding if you are being funny, profound, neither or both. It isn't even worth your while trying to explain, unless I can interest you in a slightly used bike helmet. Only one crash and he lived.
Martin:
I'm not sure what the ratio of nonsense-funny-brilliant is either with this post, but I think its origin was an oblique reflection on the massive lying discussion that occurred at Dr Feser's blog a while back. My 'question' is to ask how one can do a good deed, be a good person, while still formally cooperating with evil. Is it even virtuous to abet a wrongdoer? Is it not still immoral to achieve an immoral end by otherwise moral means?
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