i was on the Q train on saturday, tuned out, tuned in as usual and i was listening to my IPOD and click click click...the blackberry, cleaning email, checking email.. writing some guy in oklahoma who wrote to thank me for something i sent him and how it jazzed his valentines day... when i looked over to see a woman...
she was petite and had a load of shopping bags, each filled separately.. paper, plastic and assorted found objects... why did she need all those papers, or scraps of potato chip bags...she had about 10 bags and there is no way she could cart em around... so she sat in her black coat..a mans XXXL and she was smaller than a small and she was starting to fall asleep...
knowing it was cold out at night... i started to think... did she stay up all night at coney island or whereever she hides...she started to doze but forced herself away.. was she just on the move... was she homeless.. i looked closely at her hair under her wool hat and saw that she had not cleaned her face for a while.. there was a layer of dirt and grime if you looked close that revealed that she could not or would not wash...
the train kept moving, people on .. people off.... i clicked clicked clicked and between canal and my destination of 14th street, i stood, put on my backpack and reached in my pocket... I pulled out a bill.. i never saw if it was a 5 (oh my merch 5s) or a 10 or 20... i pulled a bill folded it over and asked her if she needed it...
she looked at me without looking at me in my parka and electronics and took it without a word...
a man standing at teh door looked at me and shrugged.... i shrugged back and went on my way to buy too much stuff....
