The other night as I was walking my dog Shanti on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I heard a man talking in a loud pleading voice. "Doesn't anybody hear me?" he spoke. The block was desolate, dimly lit, so I couldn't see him at first. Oh, but I heard him. "Doesn't anybody see me? All I want is a bag of Cheetos. I only want a bag of Cheetos." I had already walked past him, but knew on my way back I was going to stop by the shadow of a man I saw sitting on a wooden flower box. It was then... I heard it. I don't think I'll ever forget his words, his words went right to my heart: "Doesn't anybody even know I exist?" Upon hearing that I turned around and walked over to the man sitting on the wooden box, looked down into his sad eyes, and reached my hand out for his. Our hands became entwined as if we were old friends. I spoke gently, "I know you exist." Tears streamed down his cheek as he gazed up into my eyes. "Thank you," he said, "thank you." We stayed like that for a bit, and when he slowly released my hand, I reached into my pocket and handed him the only bill that was in there. "Thank you," he said again.
It really doesn't take much to make a difference.
A connection between 2 human beings...as simple as letting someone know, you know... they exist.
That made all the difference.
With joy,
Bonni