Standard-issue guy minding his own business on Eighth Avenue, wearing a bright red T-shirt on which is written in enormous quasi-comic book lettering, “LOL @ UR SWAG”.

Pigeons splashing in a puddle on the sidewalk just outside Central Park South wall, ducking their heads, as if playing Marco Polo. My bus is stopped, and I grin down at them. A very “urban” looking young guy approaches, stops, and grins at the spectacle at his feet. He looks up at the bus, we catch each other’s eye, and laugh together even though we can’t hear the sound.