Grace

 If you're reading this, by now you probably think that life down here is a never-ending stream of degradation, crime, and horror.

You're right, but there are also moments of grace and even humor.

One winter night I saw a man, clearly on something, lying on his back, headfirst halfway into the street. 

"Are you okay," I asked.

"No, I'm high," he said. "And I'm cold."

I brought him a cardboard box to lie on, and a throw blanket. 

"Can you stay and tell me a story?" 

I had to decline, as my kids were waiting for me.

Cardboard, in case you're ever in this situation, is spectacularly effective at insulating you from the ground. The ground acts like a heat sink, and will make you hypothermic quickly.

On another occasion, the crew who was working on my house was standing around in the yard with me when a gentleman walked up. At the time, my inspection sticker was expired by almost a year. I just kept forgetting to get a new one.

A tall black man with short dreads, he didn't say a word. All he did was laugh, and kept laughing as he showed me a new inspection sticker.

It was a great job, printed on a sticker sheet. The only thing that gave it away was that they had cropped the bottom a little too closely. It was tempting, but in the end I had to decline. 

Another night, we all walked down the street to get burgers at Big Daddy's. Also walking down the street was a young man who was cursing loudly and without stopping. This isn't super uncommon. I feel like it's either someone venting after some particularly unpleasant experience, or someone gathering their energy and anger for an upcoming unpleasant experience, or a way of warding off potential unpleasant experiences by appearing tougher.

Either way, I said to the guy hey, I have my kids here. He redirected his anger toward me, I decided shutting up and moving on was the right idea, and there things ended.

The next day, the same guy came by and said he wanted to apologize for last night. Surprised, I accepted gracefully.