[Jennifer Sears]

See the instructions under HOMEWORK on this post:

Session 2 (Jan. 31): Follow Up Notes and HOMEWORK

This discussion board assignment is due by the end of the day on Sunday, Feb. 4

[Jaqai Cherry]

I remember working on Thursday and seeing this one person. It was just the beginning of the afternoon around 1pm to be specific, it was an older woman she was dressing in a formal way like she just came from an important event and she was by herself when she decided to get a small booth.  When she sat down at the table I don’t really remember what posture she was in but I do remember her saying that the tea and coffee at the restaurant was very delicious and that she couldn’t decide which one to pick, however with some time about like 10 minutes later she decided to pick the tea since the coffee wouldn’t sit with her right with what she was ordering. She ordered the catfish dinner which came with 2 pieces of catfish, mash potatoes, green beans or macaroni and cheese, and garlic bread, as the waiter took the menu away from her she seemed very excited to eat what she has ordered.

When I realized that it was a slow day I check the front of the house to see if there are any tables to be clean or if anyone needed help either being seated or waiting for an online order to go. I see that there are a few tables that need to be clean around where the older lady was sitting so I grab a big bucket to help get all the dishes at once, as I make my way over to her table she realizes me and complements me on my haircut and uniform, I thank her with a smile and continue on with my cleaning as I take the dishes back to the back of the house. I returned with the sanitizer bucket and rag to clean the tables to see that the older lady is eating her food with the upmost satisfaction it looked like it was the best meal she’s ever eaten, as I continued to clean up the tables she gave me another compliment saying that not only that I work fast but I also work hard making sure that the tables are thoroughly clean for the next table to sit down, I thank her again showing a big smile and taking her dishes since she seemed to be finished leaving the plate completely empty. Finally she thanks everyone for their service and leaves the restaurant seeming more happy then when she came in.

[cgeorges]

On my way back home from class, there was this one person that caught my attention. A 50-60 year old woman who was wearing a bright, neon green School Safety vest. She seemed like she was getting off of work. Dull, red hair. Wrinkles on her forehead, and a big smile on her face. Though the sky was dark and gloomy, she seemed to have a good day at work, due to her energizing demeanor. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but I could tell from first impression that she enjoys her job.

 

What made me choose her as my person to write about is because she’s a neighborhood hero. Every morning I see her happily helping parents and children cross the street, to and from the school. She greets people with the same warm, smile, comforting greeting of “good morning,” and it seems like she cares for each kid as if they were her own.

[Angelica Tellez]

I rushed down the subway stairs, dashing to the impatient train. I managed to squeeze my way through and take a seat right away. I sat across an older woman, around her late thirties, in a nurse’s uniform. I assumed she was returning home from work after a long shift at the hospital. I noticed her dark red curly hair accentuated her slightly tanned skin. Clipped onto her neckline was her work ID, that broadcasted her place of work to strangers. I wondered if she didn’t notice she had it on or she didn’t mind if I knew her name.

As we continued to pass more stops, she remained locked onto her phone. The side to side movement in her eyes made me imagine she was reading the latest medical journal article of the day. I recognized that she was Hispanic like me. I saw my mom in the arch of her eyebrows and wondered if she’s also a mom. She had running shoes on and a lunch bag that dangled on her arm. Finally, we reached her stop and she shuffled out of the train. I never saw her again but she was acknowledged.

[Anallely Romero]

As I was exiting the building I felt a cold breeze and chills down my spine as I was stepping outside. It was a dark night when class ended and lovely to see the street lights brighten up the city. I was waiting for my husband to pick me up. I was headed to the corner of the park on Jay and Tiffany. As I was crossing the street a cars blinkers were on that caught me eye, I then realized it was my husbands car. While making my way toward the end of the crossing walk I was able to witness my husbands curly hair from the back of the car as he was sitting in the drivers seat. As I made it closer to the side of the car I was able to see his phone light shinning on his face as he was playing his usual chess-addicting game on his phone. I opened the door, went to have a seat and said “hey, I missed you!” And he said “I missed you too.” And reached out for a hug. While he hugged, I took a good whiff of his cologne. He was wearing his blue turtleneck coat and khaki pants. I buckled up and off we were on our way home.

My husband looked relaxed while driving us home. There usually isn’t any traffic during the times he picked me up, so the ride was pretty smooth. During the commute we were listening to music. At least my husband was listening and singing along to the music, while I was mostly just listening to my husband sing, he has the most graceful voice and has the ability to put emotions in his singing that always leaving me with goosebumps on my skin. As we got off the highway, he was looking eagerly for a parking spot. Moving his head left and right and peaking his head and body out to see if he was able to see a parking spot from a distance. “OOO..” he said and turned the steering wheel quickly as he found a parking spot around the corner. He managed to park in a tight spot, I saw the look on his face as he was impressed with himself. I applaud and said “that was great!” He said “thank you” and we both opened the doors and began to walk home.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by Anallely Romero.

[Veniamin Isakov]

During one wintry weekend day, as I and my girlfriend explored Manhattan sights, we stumbled upon one eye-catching man. Among the crowds of people, he looked very unique and somehow different, as if he doesn’t belongs here. We were onto our way to Central Park, as people rushed about their daily life. Then, I saw this quite old man. He stood confidently and looked around with a big smile. He hold onto a smoking pipe in his mouth, as the smoke rose over him. He wore a messy clothes, signifying that his exterior appearance doesn’t bother him. He just enjoyed himself in this very instance. One thing only could disrupt his coolness – the sun. Unfortunately for the sun, he had a cool looking sunglasses. The glaring beams blinded the concrete streets. Barely holding my eyes open, nonetheless, I were able to distinguish his prominence. I remember thinking to myself – “If I could achieve the same tranquility from life as him, and enjoys nothing but being in the moment…”

[kelly G]

During sunday mass, I was use to seeing my mothers friends from church gathering outside before mass started. One lady stoody out. My mom is ver involved in the church. so she made it her business introducing herself and the rest of her church friends. she stood out to me because she looked alot younger than mom yet mature at the same time. she had dark brown hair and brown skin the color of caramel. she was wearing this cinammon like perfume only woman from church put on. she greeted us with a smile. but you can tell she had alot on her mind. she also look like she was having a rough morning because her sweater was on backwards until one of my moms church friends kindly pointed it out. she giggled as she tries to adjust herself. as we gathered to walk into church you could tell she was nervous but eager to be closer to god as most of us do whenever we do go to church. we all sat down in the front but she stood 2 rows behind us, in between mass i would catch myself making eye contact with her. she had soaring brown eyes, fill with worry. I would try to reassure her with a smile that shes at the right place. everytime we would pray she would take alittle longer finishing up. like i said earlier i never met this woman. but by her demeanor and her facial expressions i could tell she was looking for some relief. as mass finished my mom offered her a ride home. she kindly declined, suggesting that she didnt want to a burden. although she didnt take my mom up on her offer, something in me decided to give her a big long hug goodbye. it was a long hug and for the first time in a while i was glad i made it to church, the lady seemed alittle less tense walking her direction home.

[Borys Solorzano]

A friend from Gahanna

On a sunny day, I woke up late to meet with some friends. Even though, the day was not too cold, I chose to call an Uber. The driver was a man on his late 30’s, with white hair and a cheerful attitude. As I waited for a Hyundai Tucson, the thought of being late seemed to be all i could think about. After 3 or 4 minutes he arrived I confirmed the ride and he preceded to be in shock since my address has a lot of 1’s. Through that address we began conversing about the day and life . First, we talked on the day and how its been a while since we got a day that wasn’t too cold or cloudy. Then, we talked on the economy and how nowadays you cant really survive on just one job to support your family. He mentioned his wife had a good job and so did he, but his wife was let go. This forced them to re-evaluate their finance and realize they had been living lavishly and with the sudden change in funds they had to make changes. This allowed them to start saving more and place them in a much better financial state. Yet what resonated with me was his continuous faith, in the obstacles god had placed in his life so that he could become better for his family and himself.

[Filo]

Going back home on the subway, a blonde teenage girl caught my attention. She appeared to be around 16 or 17 years old with light eyes, standing at around 5 feet and 50 inches. Her blonde hair was tied in two lateral ponytails, and her face was free of makeup. She was wearing a gray pleated skirt, a black bomber jacket, and platform Dr. Martens boots. Like most people of our age, she had AirPods in her ears and her gaze was fixed on the screen of her cellphone. Her leg was trembling ever so slightly. It was a delicate tremor, almost imperceptible, yet it gave the impression of a hint of nervousness or perhaps a touch of anxiety beneath her composed exterior.

As I watched the blonde girl, a strange sense of recognition tugged at me. It felt like she deliberately grabbed my attention, and then it hit me – her features, blue eyes, and love for pink reminded me of my best friend from back home. Memories flooded in – the carefree days of our youth, filled with laughter and shared adventures. The way she styled her hair in two ponytails echoed our past. It was like a wave of nostalgia washing over this urban scene.
In the busy subway, where faces blend into a sea of strangers, I noticed a pattern. Those who catch my eye often resemble the people I miss most from my hometown. The subway, in these moments, becomes a fleeting gallery of familiar echoes, briefly connecting past and present and reminding me of lasting connections across time and distance.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by Filo.

[Selinee Herrera]

As I walked out of college after class, I checked how long I had until my bus home. To my misfortune, it had just passed and the next one was fifteen minutes away. The look of the street lights made the walk to the bus stop seem pleasant and the brush of the cold wind on my face at the same time encouraged me to walk faster. As I approached the stop, I noticed an older man in his late sixties or early seventies wearing a gray hooded sweater sitting hunched forward. The first thing I noticed was he was holding onto his silver-colored cane. I wondered if he felt cold as his thin sweater revealed half his striped t-shirt underneath. White wavy hair surrounded his head and three big lines across his forehead. He seemed very serious, almost as if he was angry.

As minutes passed by, he moved around on the bench a lot and eventually took out his phone from his pants pocket. I wonder if he felt uncomfortable on that metal bench or felt desperate from waiting for the bus which was now delayed. He made a squinting face while looking at his phone screen. I wondered if he had glasses and had forgotten them or if he hadn’t noticed his eyesight was not good. His eyes opened up when a bus had made a turn on Tillary Street. A hurried reach in his pockets made what sounded like keys or coins jiggle. To my surprise, he took what seemed like a bag of coins in his hand and quickly ran to the edge of the sidewalk. He got on a bus and that was the last I saw him.

[ashley]

I had just came out of my last class period at 7:15pm. I started walking to the 4 train in the cold windy wind like I usually do. While I’m waiting for the train I have 4 minutes till the train comes. While I’m waiting for my train there is a lady across the platform on the other side sitting down on the wooden chairs. She seemed very cold, tired and drained. She had two big bags right next to her piled on top of each other. While she had her legs crossed, with a big thick black coat and a long scarf that covered half of her face. The only thing I can see was her dark eyes and thin eyebrows while she was starring at me. Her eyes slowly closing with a cup on her right hand facing out. I wonder what’s going on her mind and how she is feeling and more.

[Oluu]

Upon taking the 3 train towards New Lots with my friend, the train stopped at Atlantic Terminal. I always found Atlantic a interesting terminal because the area is a prominent hang out, shopping, and entertainment center. You never know who you are going to see or interact with because of how fast paced and crowded Atlantic is. Nevertheless, as the doors opened a foreign family of four entered our train cart it came to my attention after taking my airPods out that this family was either of French or Russian descent. The reason this thing caught my eye was because they had two children ( the older sibling being a girl and no older than five or four years old and a baby, wearing gender neutral clothing, so I was unable to determine the gender ) and I understand that having a toddler along with a newborn can be extremely stressful for both mom and dad.

Additionally, the mom was wearing a light pink furry trench coat and looked stunning. The father was dressed more mellow compared to the mother, but had a unique haircut. To describe it, the hairline was pushed almost to the center of the top of the head with the rest of the head covered in ash blonde flowy hair, it is of most importance to know that his hair wasn’t long, it was cut into a bob. While continuing our journeys home, the baby was very cranky throughout the whole ride, and both parents were trying to please them by putting on the show for them, making kissing noises at them, and trying to shush them. It was evident that the parents were getting desperate so the mom stood up and started to rock/bounce the baby throughout the train ride home. The oldest sibling seemed very uninterested in her parents’ struggles, for she was playing with her toys that were just purchased for her presuming from Target and her Valentines balloons . Me and my friends ended up getting off the train before them and I went on my way home. </span></p>

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by Oluu.

[Kevin Chen]

Late evening marked the end of my laborious schedule, which entailed an hour-twenty-minute-long ride back to Queens. Despite my reluctance to engage in any more schoolwork for the day, I found this prompt still, quite frankly, fresh on my mind. Seeing as it’d be easier to get it over with, I picked out three criteria among dozens and kept a conscious eye out for the few individuals who met them.

It took no longer than five minutes to chance upon the first of three to meet my criteria–anyone who said the words “I love you.” The individual in question was a rather light-skinned Hispanic lady clad in beige from fur boots to woolly hat. For she was preoccupied with her endearing coddling, neither she nor her spouse noticed me briefly scanning her. Surprisingly enough, it was the infant who met my glance instead. Go figure.

The second individual for my criteria was fulfilled upon my boarding the F-train en route to Queens. Hearing little but the coursing winds, followed by the arrival and departure of other trains, my good ear happened to pick up on a very subtle “Goodbye.” The source of this greeting came from a portly man in a business suit, his face contorted with rage as he jabbed at his phone, ending his call. The moment I glanced at him, he shot me a side-eye, clearly irritated regarding my supposed nosiness. Fortunately, the F-train arrived just in time, and I briskly boarded.

In my hour-long commute on the train, not a single person met my third criterion. The remainder of my trip proved fruitless, even as I transferred to the shuttle bus for another twenty-minute ride. Upon stepping off the bus, I was greeted by the frigid howling wind and an obfuscated full moon. With each step, I came closer to my front door, but just as it came into view, a shadow crept up beside me. I was spaced out then, so I thought nothing of it.

“Hello.”

I snapped back to attention, but by then, the shadow was gone. There was no one behind me–naught but the ever-chilling winds and dim lights cast over the streets.

And so fulfilled my third criterion. By whom, I knew not, but that concerned me no longer. I finessed my key into the stubborn keyhole and retired my thoughts for the night. By then, it was already tomorrow, and I had much to do the coming morning.

[Cindy Espinoza]

<p class=”p1″ style=”margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 23px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;”><span class=”s1″ style=”font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;”>As I walked to the train station after class it was very dark out but the weather was nice. It wasn’t too cold and you could see all the lights from the buildings. There’s always many people in the area because of how many schools are around as well as public buildings. However, I don’t ever really notice anyone as I’m always rushing to get home. </span></p>
<p class=”p1″ style=”margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 23px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;”><span class=”s1″ style=”font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;”>As I got to the train station, I was rushing to catch my train however a person caught my eye. It was a street vendor selling jewelry on the train platform. I’ve never seen him there before. He seemed to have indigenous roots as he had long braided hair and a lot of the jewelry was made with feathers. It made me stop in my tracks as soon as I saw his work. My train was coming in two minutes so I knew I had to hurry however I still paused to look. I could tell all the jewelry was handmade and it looked very intricate. He was looking down before I approached him and was admiring his work. He immediately smiled as I was looking through all the pieces. I ended up buying four pieces of jewelry from him. We had a small interaction before I left. He mentioned he was from Mexico with indigenous roots. He seemed very grateful that I had bought from him and thanked me as I left to catch my train.</span></p>

[hopemreiser]

Are we still masking? Is he masking to keep his germs away from me or my germs away from him? I always feel too close to the cashiers at Trader Joe’s. The counters are so small. Would he be happier or offended if I stepped away? He seems tired. Maybe he’s sick? And I should back up to stay not sick? It’s fine. It’s only a couple of minutes and I promise not to breathe too much. He’s probably just trying to push through the last 45 minutes until close. Good luck, buddy.