Saturday, January 26, 2013

roof

Have you ever considered how important roofs are? Or how lucky you are to be living under one (which you are if you're reading this post)?
It's been a really cold week in Philadelphia, and every time I leave my building, I realize how lucky I am to be living in a building. With a roof at the top.
There's a Starbucks right under my building, and every morning I walk through it to go outside. The moment I push open the heavy doors, the wind hits my face, watering my eyes, and really waking me up. By the time I reach my destination after about ten minutes of walking, I feel like my fingers and toes are about to fall off, and can't feel my ears or nose. And this is when I'm dressed in 3 layers, with a below-the-knee super puffy coat, boots, gloves, and a headband.
Then, at the end of the day, I travel the same path back home and count the steps until I reach for the door of that same Starbucks, and walk into the cozy, fresh coffee-smelling warmth of the store.

Right outside that same Starbucks where busy people work on their laptops while sipping their cappuccinos, lives a man. He's been there ever since I moved to this building. He's there almost every morning and every night when I walk in and out of that Starbucks, and he lies, barely moving, on the sidewalk.
And there isn't a roof above his head.

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