I was walking down the street this morning when I saw a homeless man.  He was leaning on a shopping cart full of cans, reading a newspaper.  We made eye contact and he smiled and nodded to me.

“What’s up?” I said.

“Just reading about myself in the newspaper,” he replied.

I glanced over his shoulder.  Sure enough, there was a picture of him camped out in the woods.

“Hard way to make it into the paper,” I said.

He laughed.  Paused.  Laughed again.

“I like the way you put it.  Thanks, man.  That made my mornin’.”

“Sure, man.”  I smiled and nodded to him.  ”Stay warm.”

I don’t care what awful confluence of circumstances and fuck-ups lead him to where he is.  He was polite to me.  That made my morning.