a homeless woman

Setting: I was in a hurry, not because I was late to anything, just because I was in a hurry to spend more time at a place I like, a coffee shop downtown, before it would have been closed early on a Christmas Eve..

As I was quickly passing by the corner of 42nd st and 5th ave of a very busy part of New York City, the corner of my eyes caught the face of a homeless woman on my left, almost crying but trying to hold it back.. As my mind was processing the image and triggering a response, I already walked passed her. A moment of hesitation followed as I kept walking, and finally the brain told me to stop and walked back to her to give her all the one dollar bills I had at hand at the moment.

..I gave her a hug, and she gave me her life story..

(tm) you seem to look sad?

(Tiffany) my husband just passed away 5 months ago.. And I just found out I'm pregnant (long pause)...

I have two sons, one is still in college, I will never give up on this son! The other one, he stole his dad’s, my husband, identity, and left me with a 70 thousand dollars debt. 

...

(tm) I'm sorry to hear. Where is your son now?

(Tiffany) he's still in Ohio, I'm trying to get him here. I already found a shelter but they won't let me in till Friday...I still can't believe I'm pregnant. They did a CT scan the other day and told me I was pregnant. I told them to do the scan one more time, and I'm still pregnant. I'm 42 years old already! But I am sure God has his reason to send this child to me. I don't believe in abortion, I will sure keep this child. Thanks to this kid, I am now qualified for medicare. I will also need to do mastectomy after that. I have both Brca1 and Brca2. My mom died of breast cancer. At her time it was a taboo to even talk about it! My sister also died of breast cancer. But she was stupid. She knew she had it ten years ago before it happened. She just did not want to do mastectomy. I won't give up! It is not my type. I used to be in a horrible marriage. I first got married at 16. Stupid. My husband used to beat me up everyday, kicked me down the stairs. I still have a big scar on my back. He said he would stop hitting when I scream. But I wouldnt let him win. I did not scream. Then I met the love of my life in Ohio and had a wonderful marriage! 

(Tiffany) What's your name?

My name is Minh

(Tiffany) Oh I love that name!

(tm) Thank you! 🙂

(Some buddish monk passed by and gave her a piece of peace symbol with a good intention to wish her peace, but she refused politely and said "sorry, I only believe in God." Then she turned to me and said)

I believe God will take care of me! He is like my own father.

(tm) I am sure he will. And so he told me to give you this (and I gave her whatever left I have in my pocket)

(Tiffany) No no no I can't take this!

(tm) Please do! It is not mine! God told me to give it to you! Have a happy Christmas! Don't worry! Everything will be alright! God will take care of the rest 😉

We had a long and tigh goodbye hug..and she said "I haven't got a hug for a long time!!! Thank you, Minh..thank you..thank you!"

And I still heard her thank you echoing in the lightly cold air, distinguished from the background noise of a busy Christmas Eve Day.. 

..and the truth is: Thank YOU, Tiffany.. you just gave me the biggest present: HOPE! I'm a happy soul to have met you! Life is full of coincidences and surprises. But are they, really? Who knows.. I believe we're meant to know each other, for a short time, or for a long time, for a second, or for a life.. it all has a meaning to it, it's just whether we see it or not. 

Merry Christmas!

10:53, 25 Dec 2013

a duck

Setting: a promenade in Central Park and this "duck" caught my attention with its puppets singing "Say something I'm giving up on you." And the duck was sitting quietly on a bench under a big tree, with the evening light shining through the leaves here and there, so it kinda was an interesting combination.

It must be hot in there!?

It's ok. I built a cooling system inside. I made this costume. But today is humid so it's a little sticky.

How long have you been in there?

What time is it?

6:30pm

I have been here since 9am. People give me water sometimes. And I would say thank you. 

[As he was undressing his costume, getting ready to go home for dinner with his mom, he took out a feather]

Some kids played it hard with me today. They plucked my costume, laughed, and left. And these things cost me money.. I love playing with kids, and I don't mind them. But it is the adults who let the kids do so. Anyhow there's enough good people, so..

[side story: Christian, from Peru, also taught himself to build two 3D printers already. He got plans to get back to where he used to be. And I believe with such a creative mind, and optimistic determination, he will make his own luck] :)

April 8, 2015

a cab driver

 Setting: on a cab to an airport in NYC

Dio, from the Ivory Coast! Ambitious and hard working. Going to college and driving a cab to support himself. 

He told me this is the first time he could talk to someone who could understand what he's going through, as an international student. 

..people are lonely not because they are not surrounded by others, but because they couldn't find one who would understand them. 

and when you would have found one, even when it is a stranger, it could give you the strength you need to go on, knowing you are no longer alone!

I believe this kind and hardworking spirit will make it big!

23/6/2014

an engineer, maybe

 Setting: on a metro north train ride in New York

Me: where are you going to?

G: (a place)

You're there for a visit?

I go there to knock down an airport.

You're kidding right?

No, it's an old air force base. They're knocking it down and build a new one. 

So you are an engineer?

Sort of. I used to ride trains like this. This is my first time sitting in one. 

Is there anything you can't ride? (i was just guessing from  his look)

I can ride anything, trains, trucks, water jets, airplanes too. And if I can't, I'll figure it out anyway.

Is there anything you can't fix? (my guess again)

I can fix anything too. 

Wow nice! It would be great to have someone like you around! Can you cook then?

Oh sure, i can also cook in the wild. 

Where did you learn all that?

You can learn anything as long as you can read, right?

..

G: do you know that 80% of air pollution come from the buildings?

Me: what? How so?

It's the heating and air conditioning system.

Maybe I should build myself a tree house and stay there.

We all leave foot prints on earth, and it will come back to bite us in the ass one day.. The skin cancer is getting bad lately!

True..

..

G: (I dozed off due to my lack of sleep lately) sleep! 

me: did I just dozed off?

Yes, sleep! I'll leave you alone.

Okie (then i passed out)

me: (waking up) how long did i sleep?

G: maybe 10-15 minutes. You know, you just need to fall asleep and start drooling and you'll scare away any guys (we both laughed)

..

me: are you happy with your life?

G: yes, i wake up on the right side of the grass everyday. I used to be a millionnaire, twice, and lost everything. 

How did you handle all that???

I told you, i just need to wake up on the right side of the grass everyday. And the second thing is your health. Money doesn't matter. As long as you are happy and healthy, you can always make money somehow.

..

me: what's your favorite color?

G: i'll take green! I grew up in the north where there's lots of land and trees!

..

goodbye! I've learned so much today!

Take my seat! You can see things better right from the window. I always take the window seat coz I like to see things.

27/5/2014

an ex-prisoner

setting: in a car driving along FDR, full moon night
character (B): an ex-prisoner

A: what were you most deprived of when being in jail?
B: freedom... there's always someone around. But you know what you'd be also deprived of? distraction. It's the perfect place if you wanna focus on doing something.

a zombie

setting: on a night bus, the saturday night before the halloween on monday
character: a male make-up artist, 34 years old (Z)

tm: wow, if it were not to be the halloween weekend, I'd have thought that blood was real.
Z: yeah, I did it myself. This is my kit.

tm: how do you make the fake blood on your face?
Z: I used syrup and change the color a bit so it looks more like real blood, especially when it dries up.

tm: how do you make it so real?
Z: you just have to play with it. I play and experiment with colors a lot.

tm: I see, so you learn by experience.. you are a make-up artist then?
Z: yeah, I used to be a different zombie everyday. This is my business card. I had it on my forehead earlier, but the rain stripped it off (what he meant was he had it stick on his forehead in such a way that it looks like the business card was cutting through it). I used to do the "metrocard man" make up where I had a few metro cards cutting through my face.

 tm: it seems like you are very good at it! How did you started with this?
Z: do you know the library in (i forgot).... I used to stay there all the time as a kid. I keep reading and reading all about special effects, and everything art-related. I love playing with colors. And when my mom asked what I was doing, I told her "I'm turning my toys into zombies and santa claus!" I love art. I also do a little bit of acting, modeling, and martial arts.

tm: how did you turn it into a business?
Z: I turned myself into different zombie everyday then walk around on the street. There was this one time I was a zombie playing basket ball in central park, and people started gathering around and asking. Another time, I was a standing still in a wax museum, pretending I was texting. A lady stopped by and took a picture of me. I turned toward her and said "thank you" then she dropped on the floor panicking. I thought she knew I was real. I didn't know I'd scare her. Sometimes, I'm a wounded person rolling on the floor. But I stopped making bruises and bullet holes because the paramedic guys and the cops keep asking. There was this one time where a paramedic guy insisted on getting me into his ambulance, seeing my bleeding wounds and bruises. I told him it wasn't real, and he didn't believe me, so I had to peel it off.

tm: wow! how long you've been doing this?
Z: hmmmmm 17 years. I'm 34 now.

tm: so you've been doing this half of your life?
Z: yeah, and I'm not bored of it at all. I don't do the same make-up twice. I come up with something new every time.

a girlfriend's boyfriend

Setting: at work
Character: a 26 years old male, caucasian, who's currently having a girlfriend (A)

tm: do you think you love her more than she loves you?
A: love is a strong word and no
tm: interesting that you don't see it as love. Have you ever loved anyone then?
A: I don't know what it is so I can't say yes or no
tm: Do you love your mom and dad?
A: just my mom