Heroic acts and cup of chai latte....

Today on my way to work,I took a little detour.Whenever ,I choose to do detour,the rhythm of my daily routine shifts a little.I stopped for a chai latte at a small little vegetarian cafe that I like very much,but often don't have time to get there.For reasons,unclear to me,I felt I had lots of time ,which is unusual for me in a fast paced work day.I had come from a nice and deep felt yoga practice this morning.The cafe is known for its chai latte and also as a place to learn meditation.The young man at the counter knows me and greeted me affably.As I was waiting for my chai latte,a big fire truck parked in front of the cafe, in the middle of the street,an ambulance and a handful of paramedics.There was burly looking middle aged man crouched on the stairs at the entrance of the cafe with ,all intensely gathering around him.Inside,the cafe was quiet and serene,outside on the stoop was intensely quiet for what seemed to be an emergency.I asked the young man who was making my chai,what had happened.He said,the man on the stoop was doing some carpentry work upstairs and he sawed off one of his fingers.The scene of the paramedics,ambulance, blood on the sidewalk was noticeable,, but the quiet of the moment was more like a sacred moment than a life threatening emergency.The man's hand was carefully wrapped in a bandage,he then walked calmly into the ambulance.There was no hysteria, no crying,no state of shock.Once the man was in the ambulance,the paramedics huddled into the middle of the street and hugged and high fived with beaming smiles.It was a site,I shall not forget.
I left the cafe with my latte, in a hugely different state of awareness than when I walked in.I stopped in a plant store across the street and eyed a lovely cactus with elephant ear like leaves.I wanted something tangible to look at to remember what I saw.A man walked in to the plant store,I asked him ,did you see what just happened.He said yes,that man is by best friend of 35 years,we meditate together,he was doing work for me and screamed as his finger flew through the air.In a frenzy,I found it,put it on ice,and tied a an apron string tightly around his finger.He said, that is my friend,I will go meet him in the emergency room.....