A City View - Scary People (Part Deux)

A City View - Scary People (Part Deux)

THERE ARE OTHER THINGS to fear in our high-rise elevator rides. Scary was the man who got on one morning with a pit bull.

Do you know anyone who has been bitten three times by a dog? Well, you do now. Yes, dogs just aren’t that into me. So can you imagine how terrified I was when a man got on the elevator with me at 8 a.m. with a pit bull? I stood quietly, holding my breath (praying that on this day I would be invisible). When we stopped at another floor, a man got on with two, count ’em two, schnauzers. Unleashed. Yes. You see where this story is going. By the time we made it to the ground floor, we had six adults and three growling dogs penned in a four-by-four-foot space. My blood pressure didn’t come down for two hours.

I’m not sure if these guys had a clue that they could be putting themselves, their pets, or other residents at risk that morning—or if they just didn’t care. I imagine that in their minds, they were just two average guys going about their average day to walk what they felt were their very average dogs. To some of us, pit bulls aren’t average canines, but then dogs running off leash, regardless of how small or cute they are, aren’t allowed in the city of Dallas either. Scary is self-absorption coupled with self-rule. And terrifying is when our own self-absorption and self-rule create emotional (or physical) risk to others.

I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me,Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2, NASB)

My city view, now up close and personal, has changed my perception of fear—the guys and gals standing on the corner of Young and Harwood aren’t scary, but riding my elevator is. From now on, I’m taking the stairs.