Thursday, March 31, 2011

Its Just A Buck

Its been awhile since I have lost so much shoe leather on a city street. This past week in New York has me eating more and losing more weight at the same time-one cancelling out the other to a degree which is my next book..." Walk Your Ass Off"....and as I cruise up and down the narrow streets of The Big Apple I am struck by the diversity of cultures, the push and pull of the crowds, the vendors with music blaring selling everything from Statue of Liberty erasers to half price tickets to a strip joint to the high end stuff like cameras and computers. Its how they make a living and live their lives...every day of the year. As I watch the sea of humanity devour the concrete I wonder how all this happened...watching a cabbie nearly take out a delivery guy on a bike or high school kid tell me that there are some fine young breasts with my name on them for only $25 bucks at the peep show has me wondering if we are really the greatest hope of the planet, the top of the food chain and the most intelligent life in the universe or are we just another species that procreated and got outta control and took over our host planet like so many parasites. Sometimes seeing the Divine is a hard thing to do when all around you is chaos, stress, despair and pain.

I was heading up 8th street from an early feeding and making my way through the drizzle and wet wind, stopping once in an Army/Navy store looking for a ball cap to prepare for the predicted shitty weather tomorrow. Nothing suitable so off I go toward the apartment I am staying in and just as I round the corner going to 52nd street I see a sign that says "What the F**K its just a Buck.." and seated next to the miniature billboard is a woman...a young woman covered in coats and assorted blankets with various bags strewn about and a medium sized black Labrador dog in a half sleeping bag next to her. In front of them was a small red dog dish with a few coins in it. People hurried past her ahead of me, making sure not to look too long and all the while the seated woman was doing what appeared to be a crossword puzzle. As I made my toward her my instinct was to dip into my pocket-grab the change leftover from my meal and deposit it in the dog dish. As I came closer The Voice says.."just watch."

I made my way past her and stood in the drizzle watching her and the dog from about twenty feet away. I watched they way people looked at her...this young woman who is someones daughter...this young woman who might be a sister or auntie...this young woman...who has chosen on some level to sit in the rain with her dog and do crossword. Some looked at the sign and laughed...others shook their heads and most just did a quick downward glance as if they wanted to make sure it was a person they did not know from another time. One guy dropped a few bucks in the bowl..and went on his way. Then a cable TV truck pulled up on the street behind her and two guys got out. They talked on the sidewalk about some cable problem and then one guy got back into the driver seat and started doing paperwork-the other guy went into a building. Then it happened.....

"Hey..Hey..Hey you.." said the man in the van. "Yeah" said the girl. "Whats the deal..how long you been out in the rain?" She responded.."Six hours I guess...might be a little more than six hours now." The dog looked at the girl as if approving of the time period. The van man said nothing more but continued to do paperwork.. "just watch.."  A few minutes later he rolled down the window and said  "Hey..girl..Hey you..do you need an umbrella?"....She stopped doing crossword and turned to him..."yeah...yeah...that would be good." Van Man reached behind his seat and produced what appeared to be a brand new umbrella in a sheath..a promotional item perhaps. He tossed it to her..and in one deft move she opened it up, blue and white..."its perfect" she mumbled. She tilted on her arm against the wind and rain..the dog curled itself up tighter in the sleeping bag...the other cable guy came back and got in the truck and off they went. It took me a few minutes to realize what I had seen...what I had witnessed...what I had been taught...what we want...and what we need are two very different things...and we always get what we need...but its not usually the way we want it..."just watch."

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