看似凶悍的机车党竟是动物救援队(遇困脱险/成长感悟)

I was in Philadelphia for a conference when I saw an ad in the hotel. A nearby theater was showing a documentary about several local animal shelters that were helping to save abandoned dogs across the country. I love animals, and I felt an urge to go to this fundraising event. However, none of my co-workers would go with me, and I was worried about walking on the street alone at night.

I resigned myself to spending the evening in my hotel room, but as soon as I got back to my room I felt restless and bored. The theater where the event was taking place was only about five blocks from the hotel, and the area around the hotel didn't seem particularly dangerous. So, I decided to brave it. I gathered up my wallet and room key and set off.

It was already getting dark and the streets were nearly deserted. I managed to find the street the theater was on, but when I turned the corner, I stopped in shock. In front of the theater were a group of bikers – very big, tough-looking bikers.

I've known lots of motorcycle enthusiasts and most are nice people. However, in this case, I was a woman all alone, in a strange neighborhood, at night, and there were twenty or so very large men – all wearing insignia that indicated they were in some sort of club – standing before me. Warning bells began to sound in my head, and my heart was pounding. Was I at the right theater? Had I misread the date of the event?

A sign outside the theater told me that I was in the right place on the right evening. Nevertheless, I wondered if I should rush back to my hotel instead of walking through that crowd of bikers. I finally decided that I would be safer inside the theater. Hopefully, the bikers would have gone away by the time the film was over.