The Airportline: Observations

Sometimes I meet a homeless person selling a newspaper when I enter my local supermarket. I lower my focus and look stressed when I hurry past him through the door, often avoiding looking him straight in the eyes. Sometimes I plan on buying a copy, but what would I say? I can’t speak Dutch and I won’t be able to read his magazine. I can’t even share a few words of comfort. So I pass him by again, with a stressed look unapologetically blaming the world for the inequalities in society. One day I will buy a paper, and look him in the eyes and we will not have to speak because I have seen him, and that is really all that matters in life. But until then, I pass him by, detached from his world, aware of my own shame.