Idness

One dark and rainy day, in the late 1990’s, while waiting for the light to turn green, I was standing at a street corner on 5th Ave. when I saw a well dressed businessman in suit and tie and sunglasses. He was in his 40’s. I thought to myself, “What is this wacko New Yorker wearing sunglasses for?”. Then I saw the walking cane he was holding. I looked down at the curb in front of us, and spotted a rather large puddle just waiting to be stepped in. I looked at all the people around us. I wondered why nobody was offering to help this gentleman. Why was I not asking him whether he needs help? The Seinfeld Handicap Spot episode flashed in my mind. Like Kramer said, they don’t want your help I reasoned. They want to be treated like everybody else. And so the light turned green, and I briskly walked ahead to the other side. As I reached the curb, I turned around, wondering what happened to the well dressed blind man. I saw a NYC cop helping the man cross the street, arm in arm. I thought, “Wow, that’s a cool cop to help someone out like that.” Then I thought, “What a jerk I am.” I dreamt on more than one occasion that that man crossing the street was God, and the next thing I knew I was in Hell.