If the shoe was on the other foot
One morning last week I was walking through a certain neighborhood that at a glance was not an inviting or stop-and-look-at-the-architecture type of neighborhoods. A few feet ahead was a bus stop that seemed to have provided housing for the four men who perched on its metal bench. They were dressed in black T-shirts dotted with holes, and black trousers that were now fading to grey. Without rhyme or reason, I instinctively clutched my purse. I squared my shoulders. I held my head up. I was not about to show fear as I walked by these rough and uncouth looking dudes. I pasted a smile on my face. As I got nearer they looked up. My eyes locked with one of them. The corners of his mouth curled up. A toothless grin greeted me with the warmest "good morning" and, "how are you?" Oh! I was taken aback, but I had the decency to return a warm smile and an equally warm good morning. Then my mind raced ahead. I started to compare these men with the men that I encounter daily in...