Last night I get on the T at State Street and there is this
girl with an umbrella stroller and she is covered in muck and dirt. The kid is
fine although he is screaming. A sweet woman tries to calm the baby as the
disheveled crack head looking mother just sits there.
“Who is so handsome!?” The woman coos at the toddler.
“Don’t be nice to him. I have had it with him.” The disheveled
crack head says with fierce attitude.
Most of the people roll their eyes and I look at the floor.
I am sick and do not want to make eye contact!
“Oh, we have all been there. I am sure it’s just a bad day.”
The nice lady says to the crack head.
“No! You don’t undah-stand. He threw his bottle on the
tracks as the last train came. It is his last bottle that I have. I get $300 a
month to survive and have $10 until Friday. I had to miss that train, climb
into the subway down below and get his bottle. I can’t afford another bottle.”
At that moment, I truly felt bad for her. I can’t even
imagine not having the cash to get a baby bottle! I am so fortunate that I have
never had to think about retrieving something from the depths of the subway
tracks 4 feet down because I couldn’t afford to replace it.
The woman pretended she didn’t just hear that (along with
the rest of the T car) and started playing with the baby who did stop crying
once he received positive attention. All smiles actually.
The disheveled crack head looking mom continues her story
about how horrible her life is but no one seems to be paying attention and her
baby was all smiles for the next two stops. Once the woman left the train, he
started crying again. I felt bad for the kid and sorry for the mother but c'est
la vie! What can you do?
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