I dropped my wallet in NY Penn Station after the crush of people bumped me around like I was in a pinball machine. I used my ice hockey elbows to keep them at bay and to stop my cane from slipping down the stairs. But, there was so much chaos as I walked towards the train I didn’t notice I’d lost anything. Then, someone began shouting,”Miss.” I looked back, saw my wallet in a man’s hand and I said, “thank you.”

I’m sad to say I was shocked that I got my wallet back because I was standing near a line of homeless people. Tonight on my way home, I saw one of those displaced souls. She recognized me and said, “miss.” I thought she was mocking me until I recognized the voice. She had called out to me not the man.

The woman wanted nothing at all except somethings to read. She walked away and stood quietly browsing through a magazine and then a newspaper. She reaffirmed for me not to “judge a book by its cover.”

#nypennstation #nyc #homeless #disability #invisibleillness #spoonies #autoimmunedisease #chronicillness #chronicpain #dontjudgeabookbyitscover