Will Clean for Food

Ugh! The alarm rings too early on monday mornings. I lift my sleepy self out of bed, sing the good morning song to my dog and lug my stiff twenty-something year old body to the bathroom to prepare for the day. I brush my teeth with a toothpaste thats too spicy to bare to the beat of the contemporary music playing on my laptop, which sits on my bed, a bed that is slightly deflated on one side and continuously entices me to come back to bed. A few swipes of blush, 5 broken bobbipins later and a coat of dried up mascara usually does the trick. My clothes still a little damp because I forgot to dry them the night before. I drag myself downstairs in my black flats still filled with rocks from the playground with my dog by my side, wishing I was still in bed dreaming of something sweet. I turn the corner to find my white carpet blessed instead of my dog's training pad. Ugh! Can this day start off any worse?

The time is fifteen minutes past seven. I'm running twenty minutes late. Three bags of trash sit in my garage because I forgot to take it out the night before. My garage holding an odor only a skunk would love. I drive off into the rising sun and find myself catching every red light known to man. No music, just lame commercials about weightloss and laser hair removal. A bit of traffic and one egg mcmuffin later (most of it on my shirt..my ...damp..shirt), I come to a stop at the corner of bitter and sweet. I look to my left to see a man clutching a cardboard sign that said "will clean for food" in his right hand and what seemed to be a used squeegy window cleaning tool that you would find at a gas station in his left. A blue bucket sat by his side filled with water. His dirty face wrinkled with sadness. He had three pockets clinging to his pants. What could be in those small, torn pockets? Change? Crumbs? A one way ticket to somewhere sweet?

This was the longest red light in history. My sunglasses coved my stares and glares. It wasn't even bright outside. Was it necessary to be wearing designer glasses in foggy weather while a hungry man cleans windows for food? I watched him walk from car to car, constantly looking over his shoulder to check on the light. He held the dripping wet squeegy up to each window, his dog following behind him as if he was protecting his master from unforgiving traffic. I watched the cars in front of me, noticing men and women turning their heads in their navigators and big trucks. His eyes were light blue and his cheeks were red from the beating sun. His nails were black and his white hair was streaked with dirt and covered with a lime green beanie.

He approaches my truck with my windshield spotted from earthly elements. He looked at me as if he knew I had been studying him for what seemed like an eternity. I see the woman in front of me looking at me through her rear view mirror. The water wasn't dripping anymore as most of it was on the sidewalk from rejection. I smile and give him the nod to go ahead and swipe my windshield. He worked on it as if he was working for his first and last meal of the day. It was dirty water, dripping down onto my paint. He scrubbed hard and fast. My windows being streaked with blackness. His face soaked with sweat and was bleeding on his left elbow. The light turned green, giving him little time to scrape the rest off. I handed him a five dollar bill through my slightly cracked window. He bowed his head and thanked me with a smile that boasted his spoiled teeth. I drive off with the intensions of using my windshield wipers to clean the remaining dirtiness.

I drive off thinking about how lucky I am to have a deflated bed to wake up in when my alarm goes off too early on a monday morning. I thought about how lucky I am to have damp clothes on that will eventually dry and can wash again. I thought about my shoes that consisted of little rocks from my student's playground and how.. at least I have shoes on my feet, and I wear these shoes...with rocks ...to do what I love. I thought about my dirtied up white carpet and how lucky I am to have carpet ..with a roof over my head and not a bridge. I thought about my family and friends and my toothpaste that I always complain of how spicy it is. I thought about my trash in the garage. At least I can get rid of it anytime, instead of digging through it for food. I thought about the lame talk shows in the morning because.. at least I have something to listen to, even if I am slowly being convinced that laser hair removal works and is pain free! I think about how I'm always late, but, at least I always have somewhere to go, to a job that I love, to children that I inspire and to people I cherish. I.... am thankful. To the man on the corner of bitter sweet... I thank you.

eat a cupcake people...and smile :)