I’m starting to get hangry, I thought as contract negotiations stretched into their sixth hour. All I’ve had is a half of a bagel, three cups of water and four cups of tea. I’ve coughed so may times I’m going to have abs before This sickness passes. And, my nose is now without skin from blowing it so much. I’m deteriorating but I have to keep going. I’m the only rep from my station.

And, I did. From 10 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., I sat. I listened. I spoke up. I made my position known in between coughs. Then, I got up, went back to the station, gathered my things and limped to the train station in below freezing temperature as my nose ran like a faucet and my back began spasming.

When it got to Newark, I headed straight to Dunkin Donuts and bought two corn muffins. As I turned around, a woman missing a few teeth and a walking around without a winter coat asked if I could buy her dinner. So I did. And, that’s when it occurred to me that my hunger was temporary. It was only going to last a few hours but hers, aside from the meal I was buying her, was endless. After I left the woman, I didn’t think about my hunger again.

My focus turned to my difficulty walking. I was complaining about how the cold was making my joints stiff and achy. I immediately stopped whining when I looked down the street nearly my house and i saw cop cars surrounding an ambulance. Someone was seriously ill and being loaded inside.

As I walked by I thought, I’m sore but my pain will pass. I’m not nearly as bad as that stranger.

I made it the rest of the way home without a complaint because I know my problems are not as bad as some other people’s.

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