One day I was riding the subway, and came across across a social wrong.
All probability dictates this woman has passed on to the next world. The picture was taken in the mid-60's , taken from a scanned slide. she was not wearing Manolo Blahniks. One might speculate from her babushka she was possibly once a European immigrant.
Was she once beautiful, was she well loved, with suitors and admirers when she was young. Did she once have a charming personality, and lithe figure ? What was she like ? Where did she go to school? Who were her friends ?
Did she have a happy childhood ? Who were her parents ? What was her Karma ?
Normally one looks away and passes by. Perhaps one makes a little prayer, but I wondered about the dignity of old age, where her family, children, and relatives ...if she had anyone ? Did she have a place to live ? Did she ride the subways all day and most of the night ? Who was there to bathe her, perfume her body, and wash her ? To dress her in clean, elegant, and beautiful clothes ?
How did we have such people in the midst of mid 60's opulence, especially in the Big Apple ? You could get off the subway and walk along Central Park East, and wonder at the comparison.
The suffering invisible are given labels as crazies who were once institutionalized or drug addicts, or perhaps in this case someone who was simply abandoned.
With the New Millennium the problem has not gone away. Ultimately we are all in G-d's hands.
The sign on the window asks to "save water", another problem that has yet to go away. Then again we can always rationalize, make merry, and simply look the other way.
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