Me No Tengo Metra, the Premier Commuter Rail System Serving Northeast Illinois, Monthly Train Pass

Yesterday, in front of a nail salon in my office building’s concourse, I came upon a man giving what appeared to be a presentation. He was positioned before a window sign that diagrams the locations of pressure points in one’s feet and hands. At first, I thought he was a nail technician, giving a talk explaining the ancient art of Reflexology.

"Um, train. Me no tengo train pass! Um, monthly pass. I do not have. Lost, please. Stolen. Stolen train...Choo-choo! Choo-choo! ...monthly pass, um, lost. Um, Me no tengo train pass..."

His words, heavily accented, echoed through the rather desolate marble hallway with a piercing staccato lilt. The lecturer had only 3 teeth and donned with a well-kept dandy mustache. He was dressed in a white ski jacked with a large “Polo Sport” logo embroidered across the back. He gestured wildly with every word that exited his mouth.

His audience, presumably a group of Asian tourists with their cameras, backpacks and overabundance of shopping bags, was listening politely and attentively to his speech. As confusing as the oration was, they were focused on their host, patiently listening to every word of his faltering speech. The few instances he was able to construct a full sentence they nodded encouragingly and in unison.

It was a beautiful site--a panhandler’s dream--an audience who listened, no matter what was said or the method of delivery.

I wanted to tell his spectators that this man was trying to con them into giving him money, but I didn’t have the heart. Despite the underlying dishonesty of the scenario, to witness that level of kindness on the part of the tourists was to catch a glimpse into something so rare and wholesome, it must, instead, be relished.