Mussings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
last wednesday, i went to my favorite street-side vendor (dont ak, just find out where) to buy myself a barging price of 3 sticks of cigarettes (yes! i smoke! so be it...) for a good price of 5 pesos. As i was about to light them, a man, probably in his 30's, unwashed, needing a haircut, and obviously broke started to bend down and pick something. The street-side vendor, presumming that the man was going to bug me, or "worse", somdomize me (ok, so maybe im exagerrating!) stared at me, hinting i should check my back. As i turned to see what was going on, all i saw was purely heart-breaking. the man didnt want to bug me. No, he didnt want to sodomize me either! (thank God!) All he did was tried to pick up a fallen cigarette in the dirty, muddy, and sadly, bacteria infested street. I didnt know what to say, do, or even react but all i saw was a man in need. A man whos simple pleasure of smoking a dirty stick of cigarette was almost at his grasp. Sadly, the street-side vendor shooed him away. Embarassed, the man sadly walked away, feeling what i would describe in a cliche, "soo near, yet soo far...". Seeing his need more that my want, i did something i dont normally do, i shared my cigarette with him. Its not that we shared one, i gave one of my sticks to him, sacrificing my "quota" of 3 sticks a day limit. As i called him out and presented to him my stick, the moment was priceless, so priceless that a ream of cigarettes couldnt replace. the feeling of helping a man in his desperate need was all that matter.
Oh, by the way, the man was also mentally-retarded. Happily, i got to see him smile in a very goofy way, but in it all, the joy of smoking came through this time!
