Big City Problems

Living in a large city after a while you begin to forget exactly how many people actually live in the city along side you. There were a couple instances that I began to realize just how big Paris actually is. The revolution came in two experiences where two women fell ill in public. The first time was when the group and I were walking to a cafe at night in Republique and there was a well-dressed woman lying on her back on the street corner. She seemed to be unconscious but had a significant number of people circled around her on their phones and a couple people bent over her. After a couple minutes she began to cough and come to. Not speaking French and not wanting to add to the large group of people we decided letting the people who were already helping her, do their thing we walked away as she began to sit up. The other time something like this happened was when I was on the Metro to Accent when a woman, looking very hot and flustered asked a man if she could have his seat. He got up and she sad down and fanned herself and drank some water. In a couple minutes she went limp and twitched a little. Two women standing next to her held her head up and stroked her hair waiting for the episode to pass. When the woman recovered slightly someone gave the helpers a packet of sugar in which they put in the remainder of her water. I had to get off but I was so moved by help and support these strangers gave this lady in her time of need. These two experiences made me realize how large the city was. I have never really seen a stranger lying on the street, or pass out before. This made me realize that this was bound to happen and be seen in Paris solely because there were way more people for this to happen to than Boulder or Santa Barbara. But regardless of the increase in numbers of strangers in a large city I walked off the metro feeling warm and comforted knowing how kind these Parisians are.