Today when we did our grocery run, I bought 2 肉包 for the homeless man who takes shelter in the alleyway behind a coffeeshop. I waited a bit as he was peeing... into a drain. Was it because the coffeeshop folks do not allow him to use their toilet? My hands were full, so I had Caylen to give him the paper bag with the 2 piping hot baos as he was returning to his spot by the collection of dusty plastic bags. He turned round, received the bag from Caylen, smiled a crooked kind of smile and, making eye contact with me, said in English, Thank you ah Aunty, as he swung his arm upwards towards me, as a wave of acknowledgement. I smiled and said, 里面是肉包, 可以吃的 It was a silly thing to say, quite inane, but I wanted to sound a friendly note in his day. Why did I assume he would only understand Mandarin? I asked myself. As we walked off, I told Caylen about a professor I once had, of whom I had heard, that during a very low time in his life, had lived as a homeless person for 3 years on the streets. Sometimes you just never know what their story was that led them to this point. And its not the end.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 05:25:11 +0000
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