It's a jungle out there

A friend was telling me some of the unsettling details about her little sister in the Big Brother & Big Sister program and shared a story that makes me so proud to call her my friend.

The little sister had run away from home and when my friend heard of this she drove to the little girl's neighborhood in the middle of the night to try and find her. Heroic indeed, but let me paint you a picture of the little girl's neighborhood - Baldwin Village. The last scene in the movie Training Day was shot at a Baldwin Village apartment, and this girl's apartment complex was identical. A two story, courtyard-style building with busted windows, limited lighting and more people loitering outside than should be at midnight on a school night. (This area is called "The Jungle" because it used to be known for its lush landscaping and the courtyards of these apartment buildings had swimming pools with young families splashing around in the summer. In the 1970's gang drug trafficking surrounded the area and the swimming pools were slowly filled in, the landscaping slowly disappeared and now it's called "The Jungle" because of it's high crime rate.)

My friend showed up with her husband, got out of the car and confronted a huge black man about the whereabouts of this little girl. She said it felt like the entire neighborhood stopped and turned to look at this 5 foot 2, sassy redhead and her sort of geeky (but attractive) husband. No one would offer much information, or even eye contact for that matter, until they found out my friend was a part of the Big Brother program. The huge, very intimidating man immediately changed his demeanor and seemed genuinely concerned and ready to help.

I'm so impressed by the respect people have for this program. And even more impressed when people, like my friend, truly implement the program and cross boundaries with hardly any hesitation. Which is what any big brother or big sister would do.