Hero

Last night, three friends of mine and I went to a club in the Lower East Side. As soon as we entered, we immediately proceeded to the dance floor and got as close to the performing stage as we could. As soon as we got to the front of the crowd, a friend who was female and very inebriated stuck out a hand clutching a purse behind her towards another friend and I. Reacting to her hand and the purse, my friend, who also happens to be my roommate, instinctively took the purse and held onto it as he stood in place, nodding to the (mad awesome) music of The Annex.

Noticing the purse exchange, I asked my friend, "Why are you holding that purse?"

"Oh, she gave it to me, I'm just holding it for her," he responded. Both of us being experienced aficionados of the New York City nightlife, he clearly expected me to understand that our female friend ahead of us was merely trying to divest herself of that bulky, irritating and inconvenient purse as she proceeded to get down on the dance floor. Indeed, purses, cell phones, and wallets have been passed to me many many times in the past so I knew that this was a common occurrence. However, I also knew that our friend had already given me her wallet to hold for her earlier that night. I knew that was not her purse.

"I don't think that's her purse." I responded with urgency. Just as I said that, a dashing young damsel swiftly dashed past us towards the stage. She appeared distressed as she frantically examined every part of the stage, on top, along the bottom, towards the corners, etc. My roommate witnessed this frenetic searching and assumed the obvious, that this stranger was searching for her purse, the purse currently in his hands.

Reacting quickly, he swiftly slipped the purse back onto a dark, unobtrusive area of the stage. He then tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked, "Excuse me ma'am, but are you searching for something?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed, "My purse! My life! I can't find it!"

With a smug smirk on his face, my roommate pointed to that same dark, unobtrusive portion of the stage and asked, "Could this be it?"

"OMG! My purse! You found it!" She shouted as her face lit up in relief. She reached up to hug him while whispering in his ear, "You're my hero... thank you..."

"All in a days work ma'am," my roommate replied. I'm proud to live with a hero.