After taking showers and treating our hair with straighteners, dryers and curlers we moved on to our faces. I don’t typically wear very much make-up but this was a special occasion so I followed suit and went the whole nine yards with the rest of the girls; golden-brown eyelids, a little mascara, Sparkling Diamonds lip gloss and a touch of blush- everybody looks good with rosy cheeks. I topped off my entire ensemble with a spritz of Clinique’s Happy while Camille and Becca sprayed on their Dolce and Gabanna and Connie and Cait toiled over which earrings they should wear. As the room filled with a mist of perfumes, we called for a cab.  The elevator we took to the lobby had mirrors on all sides, which we took complete advantage of, primping and placing each hair perfectly (even though we knew the rain would take us out in one fine swoop). The girls all thought it was hilarious that I had never been in a cab before. I, on the other hand, was secretly extremely excited about taking one that night. Perhaps the idea of being driven to anywhere I please made me feel important.  As we rode to dinner, we talked about our plans for the rest of the night. This was not to be the typical wild a crazy Bachelorette extravaganza; we just wanted to have a classy night out.  As we all climbed out of the yellow cab, I stayed behind to tip the driver extra just because I felt like it.

            The candles in the restaurant created a dark glow that made for a beautiful, tropical-feeling atmosphere. I love Mexican food, so we searched long and hard on the internet to find a really nice Mexican restaurant.  The tables were dressed with fresh white linens and topped off with exotic flowers.  In each little nook of the room, there were palm trees lit from below with candles in red vases. We each ordered whatever we wanted, including drinks and desserts. Our waiter truly waited on us hand and foot and never stood more than a few feet from our table unless he was in the kitchen picking up a new martini for one of us. It was all very glamorous, an enormous splurge, and absolutely wonderful!  At the end of our dinner, we all tipped the waiter extra, again, just because we felt like it!

            Later that night, as we walked past the bars and night clubs, our cheerful outing took a turn that we did not expect.  Amid the parked BMW’s and Mercedes along K Street, beyond a tree with twinkling lights, sat a woman in dark clothes and a winter hat. She was slumped over to her left with one leg tucked underneath her and the other stretched out across the sidewalk. I had seen homeless people before but there was something unusual about this woman.  Her posture was lax and unsupported. She sat in a heap against the wall, her body lost in a pile of tattered clothing.  Her head dangled forward over her chest with blond, dirty hair stung across her face.  As we got closer, our chatter stopped and giggling ceased as we each realized what we were seeing. More people began to gather around her with looks of horror on their faces. They were seeing it too, something was not right. One young lady in a pea coat leaned forward and shook her, asking “Ma’am, Ma’am! Are you okay?” The woman did not respond and so an older gentleman took his phone out of his pocket and called an ambulance. As the stench of urine and feces grew stronger, Camille finally broke our silence, “Is she dead?”

            Before anybody could answer, laughter erupted from behind us.  The bouncer at the nearest bar yelled “Nah! She ain’t dead. She’s just drunk, like always. She’s been lying there for about 3 or 4 hours, she probably just passed out” We stared at him, bewildered. How could he take such an emergency so lightly? How could he laugh? How could he assume she was just drunk without as much as a glance in her direction? The girl in the pea coat questioned whether he had checked her pulse or not and the bouncer just shrugged it off. “Don’t worry about it, she’s fine” he mumbled and turned back into the bar.  The rest of us were unconvinced until the older man bent down, pushed her hair off of her neck and verified that she was, in fact, alive.  At that, I looked around me and noticed that the crowd was beginning to thin. People had been standing next to me with fixed concern for a stranger had now vanished. Connie and Becca, two of my best friends, were already half a block away, turning around and waving for us to hurry up. I couldn’t leave her. Some people just walked by without stopping to ask if everything was ok, some people didn’t even turn their heads in our direction. The girl in the pea coat began shouting at strangers as they passed, “How can you just walk away from her? Don’t you care? How can you be so ungrateful and cruel?” The older man patted her shoulder and asked her to please calm down and reassured her that the ambulance would be there any minute.  Through all of this, I don’t think I spoke at all. I saw this poor woman on the ground with nowhere to go.  And even if she did have a home to go to, she couldn’t pay a cab to take her there. She couldn’t have her car valet parked once she arrived, and the blankets she would use were probably as worn and tattered as the clothes on her back.

            A combination of red flashing lights and Cait tugging on my arm pulled me out of my trance.  All I could think about was how gluttonous we had been. We dressed up and went to fancy restaurants and drank expensive drinks all night and didn’t think at all about how fortunate we were. We threw away money on things we didn’t need just because it was in our pockets to be spent.  I’ve never thought of myself as a greedy or ungracious person; I am always very thankful for what I have. But that night reminded me to never forget how lucky I am.  The fun and lavish experiences we had in that one night are things that this woman may never have for the rest of her life.  The five of us walked on, a little quieter for a while. I turned back and saw the paramedics close the doors and drive away.

            Slowly, the night began to build back up to the previous level of excitement. We still laughed and had a great time. In the bar, I noticed that we all chose the least expensive drink on the menu. Instead of going to a nice restaurant for a late night dessert, we chose to get ice cream cones. Nobody really mentioned the old woman again until we were in the cab on the way back to the hotel.  As we spoke, the driver noted that D.C. is full of less fortunate people without jobs and homes and families to take care of them.  As he spoke of briefly of his family, I noticed his gloves had holes in them and his jacket looked worn. I thought that it must be hard to be a cab driver and still support a family. When we arrived back at the hotel, we all piled onto the sidewalk. I collected money from the girls, leaned back into the cab, and gave him a tip because I thought he deserved it.