On Fri I went to Williamsburg for a shoot. There was a father with his extremely cute 4-5 y.o. kid on Union Square station transferring to L-train. They looked like a really healthy and happy family. Probably, they just shopped at the Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and had bags of greens and veggies on them. The father was reading a children's book to his daughter, eager to answer and explain all possible questions to make a new world more homey.
On the train I sat in front of them, I enjoy watching people, I am a devoted observer of life.
On the next stop a homeless person came in. He introduced himself as a former patient of some institution for retard people. He begged for money. It's always a weird contrast between normal people with jobs, money and rented apartments, and people in need who openly express their helplessness.
The father of the child spaced out. The kid was watching this homeless person with open mouth, fixed eyes, and expression of total frustration and awe. When the person passed, the father said something to the kid, but she was completely immersed in her weird experience. Still with pensive eyes fixed on some inner thoughts, she did not answer.
It reminded me of the little Buddha, whose father tried to protect him from all illnesses of the world. How I would tell my kid about those things? As "those things"? And the most bothering question: are they always be "those" to me? Why should it bother me in the first place?
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