Yesterday, in a burst of stupidity, I decided to walk home from Roma — where I’d been working on that freelance story — to our apartment in Cuauhtemoc. I was hungry and tired and didn’t feel like squeezing myself into the Metrobus. (The thing was so crowded, the doors had actually closed on one man’s belly. Off the bus went, the guy’s stomach sticking out in the night air.) Turned out walking was a worse idea — my laptop bag dug into my shoulder for 30 minutes, my knees ached.
Anyway, I happened to be carrying a to-go container with some leftovers from lunch. As I hurried through the streets, a little girl came up to me.
“Can you give me your food?” she asked. I said no before I even realized what she was saying.
A few minutes later, a teenage boy selling roses approached me. I started shaking my head.
“I’ll give you a rose as a gift,” he said, “if you give me your food.”
Suddenly I realized that among the sea of people hurrying home from work, nobody carried any to-go containers, anywhere. I was the only one.
I said no to that boy, too, and felt like a horrible person. When I got home I dug into the salad and tried not to think of how long it’d been since they’d both eaten fresh produce.
Hey! Great stuff here. How did I miss TMC?….you know how everything is simplified into just initials sooner or later.
I hope you guys are doing well. I will be in touch. And oh yeah, regarding your last post. I’m going to give you a hard time about that one for a while! Ha.
When my aunt and uncle have to travel out of the state for a few days, they empty their fridge of the food that would go bad (milk, fruit and the like) and give it to the people at the nearest traffic light. You know, the ones who sell fruit or gum, or offer to clean your windshield.
My aunt and uncle look out for families and give the bags of food to them. They always look like they’ve struck the lottery.
That’s a really good idea. I need to remember that next time we travel. There’s a family just a half-block or so from our house who sit outside every day, dressed like clowns. They entertain the cars at stoplights.
Thanks for commenting, and welcome!