Cold, Hard Optimism

It is another dangerously cold day in Chicago. Once I step outside the cold winter air slaps me in the face. Instead of continuing on, I want to run back inside and stay there for the remainder of the winter season. The sidewalks are filled with people making it almost impossible to move. Once I finally reach my destination I am greeted by a familiar sound. It is a sound that is hard to avoid once you move to a big city like Chicago. I turn around and he asks me again, “Do you have change to spare. ”

Like the many skyscrapers that you find in this city, he stands tall as he approaches the people that pass by. When he speaks his voice is surprisingly cheerful given the situation that he is in. Even when he is denied the money that he so desperately needs, he is always in good spirits. I find quite amazing that a man who sleeps on the cold, hard, and sometimes wet ground has a smile painted on his face everyday. It almost seems as though he enjoys living the way he does.

Whenever I leave for home he is always there. He sits by his rusted old grocery cart, which looks like it is about to fall apart, and sings songs for the pedestrians that walk by. Usually, like the many others, I just keep on walking, but today I stop and listen. As he sings his voice cracks and you can tell that the winter weather has taken a toll on him. While he is singing he holds out an old, dirty Chicago Bears hat for people to tip him. Not many people do, but I make sure I throw in a couple of dollars before I leave. He says Thank you and quickly returns to Silent Night.

Spring has arrived and there he sits just as cheerful as ever. The only difference that I have noticed is he no longer wears the filthy Chicago Cubs jacket that kept him somewhat warm during the brutally cold winter months. Yesterday, while I was walking to work I noticed that he had bread crumbs scattered throughout his gray beard. I was pleased to know that he was at least eating something; Even if it might have been someone else’s leftovers that he found in the nearby garbage can.

Today was not like the other days. As I walked by where he usually sat I saw nothing. I saw no rusted old grocery cart; I didn’t even see the cardboard sign that read please help me. He just disappeared. I’m almost positive that never again will I come across someone as optimistic as he was. He was living in the most terrible conditions, but I never once saw him complain. Even when people walked by and laughed at him he still held his head up high. I never in my life thought I would have so much respect for someone who was homeless, but I was wrong.

Tyler, 16