Bittersweet subway commute
Commuting to my job as a teacher's assistant in a 4th grade English classroom. I got a seat, and the man across from me in the subway car looked at me directly. His face looked threatening. Such is life in the City. Of course, I didn't engage in eye contact. Later I saw that I had misjudged: his face was a face of pain. He cried out asking if anyone could help him with some money. When I hand over cash on the subway, I prefer to do it when I or the person is leaving. The woman to my right was leaving and gave him a dollar, so I leaned over and gave him a bit, too. I saw his face was full of pain. He soon got off. I pulled a textbook (for one of my courses) out of my bag, titled The Social Studies Teacher's Toolbox. The woman to my left said, "Oh, you're a social studies teacher? I thought you look like a Science Teacher." The “teacher look” comes from wearing a tie, and I was the only tie-wearer in the train car. I laughed and told her I'm