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Friday, October 9, 2009

Meeting Felix, at 59th Street

59th Street, Subway Station
Photo by myself on the subway platform at 59th Street, Columbus Circle.

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On the subway platform, I was moved to see a young man named Felix. I've seen him only a couple times before, with an enormous sign describing his situation.

Felix has a round, baby face and deep brown eyes. He was standing very still, holding his arms out ahead, supporting his sign. People walked briskly by to either side.

I gave Felix a couple dollars, and he thanked me warmly, looking me straight in the eye. Then I asked Felix if I could photograph his sign. He hesitated but said yes, and seemed satisfied when I showed him the image on the camera screen.

It was a great way to end an otherwise frustrating day. My troubles at work became trivial - how do you make a client's dressing room bigger? How do you best arrange a kitchen? How do you avoid making unavoidable mistakes?

The split second of looking one young man in the eye made my day suddenly worthwhile. Then a train pulled up at the platform. I went home, feeling hopeful and touched.

Related posts: Visions of a Cheeseburger, Midtown, Desperately Seeking... and Step Lively.

5 comments:

EMNM said...

I saw Felix last may, i felt the same.
It´s a hard vision

magiceye said...

touching post indeed

elsie said...

puts it ALL into perspective doesn't it!

Luis Gomez said...

Thank you for a beautiful remainder. Many of us are so blessed and don't even realized it.

valeria said...

Really touching, I read twice your last sentence...