The Park – Joshua Sharp
The students were tasked to imagine they are sitting on a park bench waiting for a friend when a blind man sits down with them and asks them to share what they see.
Here are two decidedly different approaches.
Kevin paints a word picture that is both brilliantly descriptive and deeply meaningful, more than worthy of his closing line, “I see something you shouldn’t take for granted.”
Joshua, on the other hand, gives his blind man some attitude and gets schooled about using all his senses to truly see.
The Park
“Aye man, can I sit next to you real quick?” He asked.
I looked to the left, and there was an old man standing above me. He was wearing a black jacket, some baggy sweats, and sneakers. He was also holding a cane, and squinting his eyes.
“Sure man, go ahead, you’re good.”
He sat down next to me, and there was an awkward silence. The man looked like he was about 50 years old. He had bags in his hand, and it looked like he was about to drop them.
“Sir, I think you are about to drop your bags, do you need me to hold them for you?”
“I ain’t bout to drop nothing, young blood.” He said.” You don’t gotta worry about me man. You think I made it to this bus stop asking people to help me.”
“I was just trying to help, my bad.”
“I know you were just trying to help, and I appreciate that.But I don’t need any help. I got me.”
“Ok, ok, I hear you, my bad”
See, this is why I don’t like old people. They think they know everything. I know if I didn’t tell him he would’ve dropped them bags. Somebody would’ve picked them right up, and he would’ve been hurt. We gotta respect our elders though.
“Young man.” He said,
Maybe if I act like I’m not here, he’ll leave me alone.
“ Young man! I know you’re still here. I can hear the hard breaths coming out of your mouth. I can feel the tension in the atmosphere, I know when somebody’s upset, and I don’t gotta see em. I can hear them. I can sense them.”
“ No disrespect, but what do you want, I have to go!”
“ Your bus don’t come til another 30 minutes, I’ve caught this bus for years man, it always comes late, so you gots time.” He said. “That’s y’all problem these days. Y’all youngins are always in a rush these days. Don’t get time for nothing.”
“ Yeah, cus we’re busy, I can’t just sit and do nothing. I have to be productive.”
“ It’s nothing wrong with that. But do you ever just sit down, and look at everything around you?” He asked. “Do you ever observe nature? You got Druid Hill Park right in front of you. All of the beautiful bugs, animals, and the sparkling water.”
“You go to the Baltimore Zoo for stuff like that. Why would I stand outside of Druid Hill Park, and observe everything. What is there to observe?” I said,.
“ You tell me?” he said.” What do you see?”
“What is the point of this? “ I said,
“ Just tell me what you see, dammit”
“ Okay, I see a park with kids playing. I see couples making out. I see people walking up and down the street. I see nothing. What can you see that I can’t? ” I said,.
The old man starts to chuckle.
“Heeheehee, maybe you’re right, you can’t see a damn thing.” He said.
“ What you mean, I’m telling you what I see, this is every day at Druid Hill Park. I don’t know what you seeing, but it ain’t what I see” I said,
“Man, you are delusional. I can see more things than that. That is sad.”
“ Well tell me what you can see then, huh. Matter of fact I’ll make a deal with you. If you can name 5 things that are happening right now in this park, I’ll give you 10.” I said.
“ Deal! You just lost your money, young blood!”
“ Alright go, and you have 30 seconds, to name them.”
“I can see the kids playing football. I can see the police car at the red light, and the bright lights as they pass by. I can see the man across the street who just opened his trunk to get out of the car. The wife and husband arguing over the Ms.Jackie, who the husband saw last night. I can see the trees blowing branches, and the green, white and brown bark on them. I can see the emptiness of the water, and the lake of Druid Hill Park. I can see the people rolling dice around the street, down there by Mondawmin Mall. And last but not least, I can see a boy sitting on the bus stop, who doesn’t use all of his senses, and he got every last one of them. This boy doesn’t listen, he is hard-headed, and he thought he would take advantage of a 54 year old blind man, but instead he kicking out 10 dollars. Because, he can’t do a simple thing like using all the senses he was blessed with. You are blessed, young blood. Use those blessings that you have, take advantage of them, because they can leave you at any moment.” He said. “Now keep your 10 bucks, and your bus is right down the street.
“ Alright, man I get it, and I’m sorry.” I said.
“ It’s okay, I understand. I used to be just like you, until everything didn’t go as planned. Now I’m sitting here blind as a bat with cane in my hand. Now get on you bus” He said.
I got on my bus, and I spent the rest of my day seeing things I never saw before.
Joshua Sharp
November 12, 2021