San Francisco Postcard

A photo of the beautiful houses in San Fransisco arrived in my mailbox this week. If I were the art director of this postcard project, I would've moved the cool green pick-up truck a bit forward. Against that red brick wall, it would look even cooler than it already does.

Then again, the postcard isn't about the cool car and perhaps moving the car would distract from ths houses.

This morning on the subway, a woman walked up and down the aisle and explained to the crowd that she didn't have a home. She was homeless, she said, and was selling candy from a box to support herself. One of the people who gave money (she didn't want the candy) was dressed in a white sweater and black skirt. Her make-up was done to perfection and her bleach-blonde hair was pulled into a neat up-sweep style. The candy-seller took the dollar and said to the woman, "You are beautiful. You look just like Ivana Trump."

On the way home on the subway, I overheard a dark man with gray-hair wearing a white knit cap tell a group of young men, "Don't conform to the trash. You hear me? Don't conform to the trash." The boys nodded in agreement.

It was a long day for me, and it seemed like every friend and acquaintance I encountered today had negative comment to say. It's easy to slip into negative thinking and talking, and it's a fight somedays not to comform to it.

As I slipped into my apartment building, this old art-deco building that is my home, I recalled the two uplifting moments of the day - a homeless woman telling an elegant woman how pretty she was, and an old man giving advice to young guys who seemed to be actually paying attention.