he was passed out on the bench. every now and then his head would fall back and his hat would fall off, so he would have to stumble to his feet and retrieve it. at one point a homeless man came into the park and removed his shoes and the plastic bags he had been wearing on his feet as socks to air out his tootsies (it had rained a lot the day before). when the wind blew and one of the foot bags rolled away, the hasidic guy happened to be upright on one of his hat fetching missions. he stopped the bag with his foot and offered to pick it up and return it to the homeless man. the homeless guy declined, so the drunken hasidic guy let it blow away and went back to sleep on the bench. at the time i was sitting in the park waiting for a meeting with a realtor about a new apartment. i took this scene as a good omen.

i got the apartment, and now that's where i live.