Hey Mr. Policeman

So, I'm siting in Rittenhouse Square with an out-of-town friend, and an angry middle aged dude suddenly rushes at an old homeless man. They're screaming, grabbing onto each other, shoving, and a trash can goes flying. And it seems like nobody else in the park notices.

I'm a small person. And a girl. I'm not a fighter. I have clearly established rules about when to insert myself into an active altercation. Nobody is on the ground, and no women are involved—this doesn't make the "It is clearly my responsibility to break this up" cut, so out comes the cell phone to call the friendly 911 operator. Someone picks up right away, I describe what's happening, and the guy on the phone promises someone will be over shortly to break it up.

What happens, my friends? No one comes. We're in the middle of Rittenhouse. Normally there's already a foot patrol officer in the park, so I don't think I'm being unreasonable in expecting a response. I understand there's a lot of crime going on, and maybe this isn't the biggest event on the list, but I think a fight between a homeless guy and a clearly unstable not-homeless guy merits some attention from our friends in blue when I know they should already be there. So, what happens? Another homeless man rises up from his bench and breaks it up. He inserts himself between the two grappling men, telling them both to cool down, that it isn't worth it. The not-homeless man keeps on screaming, and the homeless peacemaker keeps calmly mediating until the fighters finally release one another and leave.

My friend and I hang out for a while afterwards because we want to make sure the crazy fight nonsense doesn't sneak back up now that the mediator has gone back to his bench, and because we want to tell the police officer—when he shows up—that everything is okay now, and thanks for coming, and maybe the city ought to buy that guy a hot meal. But, no one comes. On our way out of the park, what do we see? A policeman. Right there at the entrance with his bike against the wall, chatting about god-knows-what, and letting a homeless man do his job.