Afectos silenciosos...

« Metropolitan Diary

Robert Caplin for The New York Times

I bicycle along the East River bike path every morning before dawn. I often see the same homeless people just north of East River Park between the F.D.R. Drive and the river. Since it is usually dark, I never make any contact with them and I assume they are sleeping. They never say a word.
Between some vacation time and needing a break, I recently did not ride for a two-week period. On my first predawn ride after returning, I rode past a man wrapped on a blanket, slumped on a bench.
Just as I was about to pass him, a loud voice boomed out, “Hey man, where you been? I was worried about you.”
I said I had been on vacation, and he simply said, “O.K., glad you didn’t get hurt.”
The next morning I rode past the same person; he said nothing and has said nothing since.
Forest Markowitz » in The New York Times- 08.12.08