No, people are great

For a few days now, I have been thinking about my winter in Chicago (well, Evanston, a close suburb) and this girl.

I was in grad school and she was in another program but also lived in the graduate dorm. I forget her name; I want to say "Michelle."

Like any winter in Chicago, it snowed a lot. Unlike anywhere else I have lived, though, life goes on pretty normally. You wear multiple layers and brave the elements.

There was some serious "braving" going on because I was still walking at the time, but not steadily. I had a homeless guy wander by me and make a crack about me being drunk. For some reason it was very important to me to track him down and tell him I was disabled, not drunk. Like that's better. Man, I'd give anything to wake up with a hangover but able to walk.

One day it was snowing, and by the time I left for home it was up to my calves. I saw this girl and she said: We need to help each other. I knew that she was going to be doing most of the helping, and I am sure she did, too. But she put it in such a way that I could not turn down.

And so we helped each other home, or she helped me.