Caffination

I'm a coffee snob even though I don't drink much of it. I hate Starbucks - preferring brew that is handmade, like a good soup, over the push button kind - but drink it because the location is convenient. I can tell you the difference between a latte, a cappuccino, and twenty other drinks, or where the largest crop of beans is produced every year. So, it must be an indication of extreme desperation, due to extreme tiredness, coupled with extreme tardiness, when I take instant coffee (I don't own a machine) with me on the way to work today.

Downstairs, I see the wife of an old college mate unloading children from a minivan. They live in the suburbs now but his parents live down the block on Bennett.

Turning onto Overlook, I see Benny S. in the distance. That is when a lanky African American male approaches me, holding some papers in one hand and some cash in the other. He asks if I speak English, and says that he is asking because he's just been “released” from Rockland County and they told him that in New York city most people don't know the language. They've only given him $6 and maybe... "Sorry, I can't help you." He follows me for a few more steps then on to the next victim.

Homeless Guy, A.K.A. Larry, is back after a long hiatus. He and his girlfriend are sitting outside the station entrance smoking cigarettes. "Can you help out?" she asks a passerby.

I walk into the station, down to the platform, and take the last available seat on a bench near my spot. Tzivia H. walks by, her husband a few feet behind, and says good morning. Benny S. Has caught up to me and is now standing nearby as well. We both board the same subway car and get seats not too far away from each other.

At 59th I switch to the B train and run into Rachel T. It’s a rare treat to see her since she doesn’t live in my neighborhood. We chat for a brief moment until my stop. When I get off the train, there is a dog wandering around the Rockefeller station. It’s a seeing-eye dog, and the blind woman who lost it eventually finds it and grabs hold of its leash. Walking out of the station, the coffee has yet to kick in and I let my mind wander into thoughts of yesterday, too tired do much of anything else as I walk the rest of the way to the office.