YO TENGO UN SUENO

Tomorrow is a holiday. A respite, for many of you, from the toil of work or school. But as you savor this extra day of rest, take a moment to reflect on what this day means.

Monday, January 15th, we celebrate the life, struggle and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the greatest men of the century, of our time. His dream to unite all people regardless of color has still yet to come to complete fruition, but it's a dream he lost his life for, and for that reason alone we should honor him in the way befitting such a noble man.

Let us take the time to reflect on how his Dream affected our individual and collective lives. Let us ponder how or lives, again, individually and collectively, would be different if Dr. King had not had a Dream.

All the enthusiasm that you gather up for President's Day; all of the patriotism that you show for Independence Day; all of the nostalgia and pride that surfaces for Veteran's Day, Memorial Day--remember to apply all of that and more in the rememberance of Dr. King.

Because although there are those that take his legacy for granted, there are those of us who can not, for we are reminded of his struggle every day of our lives.

SUPERHEROES!

Superheroes are real. Honestly. And they all live here, where I live.

You want to know how I know? Let me tell you. Today, the temperature never rose over 35 degrees. It was a beautiful day, yes: clear, sunny, bright blue sky. But it was still cold.

So I'm meandering through Downtown, windowshopping and secretly laughing at people, when I see something utterly unbelievable. A woman walking towards me with a heavy winter coat, a scarf, a hat, gloves...and SANDALS.

Now this wasn't the first time I'd seen someone who'd obviously forgotten that January comes before July. It happens. But this particular woman was amazing- she kept rubbing her hands together and adjusting her coat collar as if she were trying to warm herself up, but when crossing the street, she stepped right into a pool of melting snow and didn't even flinch.

It's just one person, I told myself. Maybe she woke up late and couldn't find her shoes. Maybe she has prosthetic legs so it doesn't matter what kind of shoes she wears, cause she can't feel anything anyway. Who knows? So I keep going.

A few minutes later, what do I see? A man wearing a sweater, gloves, and SHORTS. And as the afternoon wore on, there was more: a teenage girl wearing FLIP FLOPS and a denim MINISKIRT, a woman wearing a knee length dress with NO PANTYHOSE and SLINGBACK/OPEN TOED SHOES, a man with a T SHIRT and NO JACKET, and a couple both wearing jean SHORTS, long sleeved shirts and NO COATS.

By the end of this unbelievable fashion show, I'm completely bewildered. It's fucking freezing! My hand are frozen through my gloves! Can't these people feel the cold?

And that's when it dawns on me--they must be superheroes! There is no other explanation for what I'd seen. They're immune to the elements, that must be one of their superpowers. What that is used for, I have not yet figured out, but I'm sure there is a purpose.

I was so relieved! I was so glad I'd found the answer. That has to be it, it must.

Otherwise, nothing would make sense ever again.

I ALMOST THREW UP ALL OVER MYSELF

So I was riding the bus. (Yes, I ride the bus sometimes. I'd like to say I do it for purely environmental reasons, which I do, partly, but it's really because I'm a scary driver.)

The bus is crowded, so I have to sit in one of those aisle bench seats, the kind where you're directly facing the person across the aisle from you. I hate those seats. I never know where to rest my eyes.

There is a man sitting across the aisle. As I'm trying to gaze out of the little sliver of window within view behind his head, I notice his hand keeps moving across his face in a strange mannner. And see, this is where I make my mistake. Oh yes, I looked.

The man was pulling long, stringy BOOGERS from his nose. Then he would alternate between PLACING them on his tongue and RUBBING them on is lips, like some sort of lip balm.

I swear I almost threw up on myself.

I start wildly looking around, trying to catch someone's eye, to see if they have witnessed any of this disgusting display. But nope, they were all smarter than I. They didn't look.

And here's the crazy part- I kept looking. It was like a train wreck, or when a customer at the Restarante spills something on their shirt and they don't know it, or when I'm at the bar and the drunken couple in the booth next to me start humping: I can't turn my eyes away. Even though it makes me physically ill. Even though every fiber of my being wants to stop watching. Even though I want to gouge out my eyeballs with my bare hands.

So if any of y'all are ever on the bus, the subway or any form of public transportation, remember: DON'T LOOK.

You'll be glad you didn't.