It had been a long, long day for Marie. She wearily plops down on the worn and tattered seat. Her legs and feet ached from the eight hours of standing in one place. Add to that the mind-numbing experience of making sandwiches all day, day after day for five years.

She stares out the dirty bus window wishing that one day she would wake up and find herself somewhere else doing anything else other than making sandwiches for forty hours a week at minimum wage.

Marie must have drifted off to sleep for a while

because when she woke up, there was someone’s head nestled on her left shoulder. And not only was he sleeping and snoring, but he was also drooling. Ordinarily, Marie tried to treat everyone with kindness. But this was just too much. And she gave the man a mighty shove, and his head flopped over in the other direction, and some old man accidentally smacked into him while he was walking down the aisle.

The sleeping man woke up with a start and yelped. His eyes popped open. He had no idea what had happened to him, but his neck and back hurt suddenly. He didn’t know if he was hurt intentionally or accidentally. But he was not happy. He yelled out as loudly as possible. “what the hell is happening?” Several people snickered, and the rest put their heads down. They learned over their many years of riding public transportation that it was better to keep your head down and mind your own business if you knew what was good for you.

Now everyone had their head down now as the injured man ranted and raved at anyone and everyone. “If I find out who done this to me, I will kick their ass up and down Federal Street. I will make you sorry for the day you were born. You are a dead man; I promise you that.” Then he stood up and looked around the whole bus as if he could detect who the wrongdoer was by sight or by smell, perhaps.

Marie was afraid of what would happen next. She regretted her behavior the moment after shoving the man’s head off her shoulder. Marie had never acted like that before. She wanted to apologize, but it was too late. She shrunk down into her seat and tried to disappear. She considered pulling the cord to stop the bus so she could get off before things got out of hand. It seemed as if many of the other passengers had the same idea as there was suddenly a mass exodus from the bus at the next stop. The man was eyeing everyone closely to see if he could determine who the culprit was.

Marie tapped her victim on the shoulder and said, “excuse me, but this is my stop. Would you mind if I got off now?”

He said, “what? Oh, you want to get off. Did you see who pushed me?”

“No, I didn’t. I hope you are alright? Can I get past you, please?”

The man stood up and let her pass. Marie hoped she never had to see him again. She certainly learned a lesson. As she descended the steps to the sidewalk, everyone on the bus looked at her. Because the regulars knew this wasn’t her stop. And they realized that either she was the one who pushed him, or she was terrified to sit next to him any longer.

He seemed intent on finding out who shoved him. Marie waited for the bus to continue down the street and then waited at the corner to take the next bus to her usual stop. Her heart was still pounding from fear. But she had learned a lesson for sure. Keep your head down and your hands to yourself no matter what happens.

When she finally arrived at her stop and took a deep breath. What a terrible day it had been. It certainly set a new low. As Marie walked down the street towards her apartment, she thought I have to make a change. I can’t go on like this anymore. Life is too short. Marie arrives at the door to her apartment building and unlocks it, and steps inside.

Her apartment is on the second floor. She gets her mail and starts walking up the steps. She is so thoroughly disheartened that she doesn’t know if she has the energy to climb the steps. She has to stop twice to take a deep breath and finally makes it. Marie unlocks her door and steps inside. It feels like she has been gone for a week instead of a day.

Marie takes her coat off and throws it over the back of her couch. And plops down in the middle, and she immediately realizes that she forgot about the spring under the middle cushion sticking up, and she yelps from the sudden, unexpected pain. “Well, serves me right,” Marie says out loud.

Marie knows she should look in the refrigerator for something to eat for dinner. But she decides to heat a can of soup in the microwave. She opens the cabinet and realizes that she needs to go food shopping and the one and only remaining can is beans. Marie knows beans will upset her stomach and her stomach is already in a knot. And she doesn’t want to be up all night from a stomach ache.

Marie doesn’t hold out much hope for something to eat in the refrigerator, but she takes a look anyway. She finds a hot dog but no hot dog roll. There is a hamburger roll, so she nukes the hot dog, cuts it in half, and shoves it into the hamburger roll. When Marie takes a seat at her kitchen table, she almost falls onto the floor because she forgot about the broken leg on her chair.

Marie stares at the hot dog in the hamburger roll and decides she deserves better than this. She has worked hard every day of her life since she aged out of the foster care system at seventeen. She tosses the hot dog sandwich into the trash, grabs her purse, and heads to the door. She closes the door behind her and heads back down the steps. Her stomach is growling with a vengeance now since she hasn’t eaten a thing all day.

As Marie steps back outside her apartment building, she looks to the right and the left. She sees a sign down the street that says, “GRAND OPENING.” She heads in that direction. The street is crowded with people headed home from work.

 She’s almost at the new shop when she hears someone call out her name, “Marie, Marie wait up.” She turns around to see who is calling her name and it is one of the tenants from her apartment building. She can’t remember her name. She decides to wait up for her. Marie suddenly recalls the woman’s name is Sarah. She doesn’t really know her. Even though they have both lived in the building for over ten years.

“Hello, Marie are you going to eat at the new restaurant today?”

“Yes, I was. I don’t have any food left in my place and I don’t have the energy to go food shopping today.”

“Do you mind if I join you? I get so tired of eating alone and not having anyone to talk to.”

“Yes, sure. That would be nice. I get tired of eating alone too. There is a short line outside the restaurant. So, they stand there and wait their turn. “Well, it is a nice day outside at least. I hope we don’t have to wait too long. So, Marie, I don’t think I ever asks you before but where do you work?”

“I work in a sandwich shop.”

“What, your kidding? Do you like working there?”

“No, I’m sick of making sandwiches all day. I should look for another job that pays more. It just seems like by the end of the day I just don’t have any energy.”

“I hear you. I felt that way for a long time and then I decided to start looking for a new job that paid better. It took me about a month I applied for every job in the area that had an opening. And I finally found a great place to work.”

“You did? What kind of job did you find?”

“Well, I found a job working in a shelter for homeless people. I know that sounds depressing but I love it. I feel like I’m really making a difference in other people’s lives. And I realized that my life isn’t as bad as I thought. I have a nice apartment, I can pay my bills. I have my cat who keeps me company.”

Marie looks at Sarah and says.” I guess you’re right. Things could certainly be worse. It must be awful not to have a place to live or even a place to sleep every day. I can’t imagine how stressful that must be.”

“Oh good, it’s our turn to get a seat. I could eat a horse, Sarah. I’m that hungry.”

Sarah laughs and says, “well I don’t think that will be on the menu.” And they both sit down at the nearest empty table and pick up a menu.

“You’re right Sarah it’s not on the menu. But spaghetti and meatballs are and that’s my favorite dinner.”

“You’re kidding mine too. I’m so glad I ran into you today. I don’t know why we never did this before.”

“Hey, they serve wine here. Would you like to share a bottle, Marie?”

“Well, I’ll have a glass maybe, I haven’t eaten all day and I rather not get drunk. I’m not used to drinking.”

“So Marie, there is an opening at the shelter do you think you like to come to fill out an application. The pay is pretty good and there are health benefits too. All the people that work there are nice. What do you think, interested?”

“Well, I don’t know. What am I saying, of course, I’m interested. I hate my job. It’s boring and tedious. I have to stand all day. Yes, please. Can I give them your name as a reference? Believe it or not, I don’t really know that many people even after living here for ten years. I just go to work and come home. I rarely go anywhere except food shopping.”

“Well, Marie you won’t be bored working there. And like I said, everyone that works there is nice. They care about other people. And at the end of the day, you feel like you are really making a contribution and helping people. Oh good here comes dinner.”

They both eat quietly, Marie said, “wow, that was so good and the prices are great. maybe I should go out to eat more often.”

“Well, I would like to go out to eat more often too. So how about you and I plan on going to eat together at least once a week?”

“Really, Sarah that would be great. Let’s see what’s for dessert. Marie picks up the menu again and says,” Cheesecake. I haven’t had that in years.”

“Oh, I love that too. Order two, my treat. Say, Marie, I’m on a bowling team and we are down one person. She moved to New Jersey. Do you play?”

“Well, when I was a kid, I was in a bowling league. But that was a long, long time ago.”

“So, it’s great fun. How about it? We meet every other Thursday night at the Bowlarama on 4th street. We can take the bus from the corner?”

‘Really, that sounds fun. Yes, I would love that.”

“Wow, that cheesecake was the best. How about taking a walk. It’s such a nice night? You can tell me about your day.”

“My day well, it was boring as usual until the bus ride home. Well, that’s a long story I’ll tell you while we’re walking…..

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