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Current mood:	melancholy

Chickenshit At The Night Market
We went off to Chinatown a couple of days ago to the very first Night Market. It was pleasant, but not nearly as evocative as the name. It was organized by the youth group as a part of the Neighborhood Night Out campaign. This year its' just a one-off event, and felt a bit sketchy, but it was well attended, even if there wasn't enough stuff out to make it an actual market. Next year they'll be doing more of them, and perhaps it will feel a little more market-ish.

Katie had brought along her current favorite soft toy, a little guinea pig. I was holding it for her while she was drawing. A guy came up to me. He had the bad teeth and grubby appearance of the borderline homeless. He said, "I have a teddy bear too. They gave it to me when I got out of jail to keep me company. So that I could have the happy childhood I never had." It was a sweet and very sad thing to hear from a total stranger.

Being slow, and a little put off by this guy general grubbiness, I just smiled and offered him some Fritos. He refused. His teeth couldn't handle them, he told me, and walked off. I stood there, thinking I should have said something, anything more. I really was moved, but too slow and chickenshit to give the guy a hug, or some other gesture of human to human kindness.

I hope I see him again and get a chance to tell him how moved I was by what he'd said.