Member-only story
Business as Usual
Hey, it’s a living
The place of business shown above isn’t always that cushy. Someone down the street tossed out that remnant of shag carpeting and the chair appeared from someone else’s trash pile. This deluxe set-up lasted a day. When I came home the next night there was a “new” chair, an office chair with one arm missing.
People make do.
I live in a neighborhood where there’s a lot of making do. Most days over by the two shiny new rows of CitiBikes™ there’s a decent selection of laundry detergents and various shampoos and hair conditioners for sale. I’ve never inquired about what they cost. I already know. I pay it every time I want to buy toothpaste and a Duane Reade clerk has to come over and unlock the plexiglass that is meant to thwart shoplifters.
Hey, I’m the one who can get a semi-sorta ok job so I can afford to buy toothpaste.
Many of my neighbors have given up hope of that being part of their lives.
We call the wide bit of sidewalk that runs between where we get off the subway and the grocery store on the corner “The Living Room”. In pretty much any kind of weather, it’s where folks hang out. In summer it gets very active with little kids chasing each other and several sound systems competing for dominance.
