Every night for several weeks now, I pass by this couple who meet each other under a tree in front of one of the shuttered shops by my building. I know they must come here after work because they're always wearing the same uniforms.
They stand there for literally hours giggling, occasionally making out, talking in low voices or just
sitting close
huddled on the steps.
It moves me to see two people so obviously, so relentlessly in love...
They're young and apparently lower on the socioeconomic chain, so their relationship is structurally disposed to a high likelihood of failure. Marriage is rare among Brazil's marginalized poor, the ability to form a stable family unit seriously complicated by a host of social challenges and insecurities. My research harangues me about all the barriers to resources, the power differentials, the unrelenting poverty that looms over their lives.
But when I pass them, I can't help my smile... and wish them all the best. Seriously, who knows what that bond they are forging can enable them to accomplish...?
17 September 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
It's similar here with the parks filling up with couples in the afternoon. Sometimes, when I'm bored I like to invent stories about them. However, in my stories they always live happily ever after.
ReplyDelete