Thursday, September 8, 2011

'The Best of Times and the Worst of Times'

One of the things about being unemployed in the city, for me anyway, is the heightened cognizance of my surroundings. I'm not really focused on too much other than sending out resumes, going to the gym, and writing for my blog.

Therefore, I just can't help but observe other people's situations around me and feel terrible for what so many go through. For example, what about the delivery guy who is not in his home country, but has to work long hours in the heat, snow, and rain? Or what about the waiter who will work 10-12 hour shifts 6-7 days a week just to survive? Or the pregnant teenager who was raised in a harsh home and is now herself in an abusive relationship? What about all these people??

This was a lament to my very good friend last night as we sat over drinks at the bar in a French restaurant in my neighborhood. She, in turn, has a way of capturing what seems to take me loads of sentences, and put them into the most perfectly concise thoughts.

New York is such a catch-all of people from all walks of life and backgrounds - all having different aspirations and goals. There are just so many people with so many different circumstances that it is hard not to miss their situations sometimes. And as my dear chum so candidly pointed out, that 'it is the best of times and it is the worst of times' - some come to pursue careers and have a good time, while others have been forced to leave their homelands in hope of something better only to find themselves just surviving under different circumstances, and for still others this is the only reality they will ever know - stuck in a vicious cycle of abuse and agony. The list could go on and on.

And so as I close my rather somber and forlourn post on this sleepless night, I comfort myself with the thought of hope. For without hope, friends, and faith in something better, we would all be lost.

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