My ambivalence towards my homeless brothers and sisters continues.
This morning I sat down on the subway, excited that another inspiring day at my beloved job was beginning. At the second stop an individualistically dressed man entered the train with several bags full of carefully separated sheets of newspaper. "Anyone got some change?" he implored an apathetic crowd of workers. He repeated it several times, but he was cruelly rejected. Then, in a propitious twist of fate, he sat down next to me. Now I have not been endowed with a very strong sense of smell, but within seconds I was dry heaving. Although the girl on the other side of him sprang up and ran away, I thought that that would be rude so I sat firm, as my nostrils were assaulted with stench reminiscent of a Civil War battlefield. I stared forward, trying to take myself on a metaphysical journey far, far away, when my reverie was interrupted. Gently, like a caress, a voice whispered into my ear, "Got some change?" My ear was moist from the humidity of his breath. I quickly gave him 30 cents and fled to another car when we stopped. I now know the limits of my generosity.
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ReplyDeleteI once had a run in with a homeless man when I was selling shoes during the summer. He too had a rancid smell that made me dry heave. the worst part is that I was the only one in the shoe dept so I had to help him. He made me take his old shoes off (with my bare hands) of him and try the new ones on him. He tried like 5 different styles and I was dying! He smelled like pure urine. I feel your pain and you were justified.
ReplyDeleteSICK!! I feel ill when I read how he whispered in your ear. SG!
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