Zhenyu Bian (Jack)
Pro. Teddy
Seminar 126G
11/18/13
An old man
Last Sunday, I went to China Town and I saw an old man sit on the curb of street,
and he attracted my attention. He wore grey hat but I could see his hair is white, his
eyes were small and I nearly couldn’t see his eyeball. His face was full of wrinkle,
which is the reason I call him an old man; maybe he was over 70 years old. He had big
nose and eyes, his nose and eyes turned red because of the cold weather. I was sure that
he is Asian-American because his shin was yellow, wax yellow, which is like his health
was not good. He locked his lip without any expression. He wore khaki coat, grey
trousers and black shoes, he just wore a little clothes. He put his big hands on his legs
and looked blankly into the distance, which is like a statue.
People walked throught him ceaselessly, but no one stop to care the old man. They
did their own business, and they did not pay attention on an elderly who sit on the curb.
The image is sad, the old man became background of passerby or he turned into a real
statue. Katherine Barrett, who is a contributing editor of Financial World, writes an
article called “Old Before Her Time”. She disguises an old woman to test people how
to treat her. She finds, “The old are often ignored” (Barrett 102). No one was willing to
ask the old man what happened or do you need help; they just ignored him. I didn’t
know why I was a litter afraid of the old man; I didn’t think he can hurt me or he is a
bad guy. Maybe because of his skin; his skin showed he was not healthy, people thought
he may had some diseases. As Barrett says, “they were afraid to touch me. It’s as if they
think old age is a disease and it is catching” (106). However, that are all people’s guess,
we don’t know whether an elderly has a disease depend on his appearance; that is only
an excuse of ignoring elderly.
At first I thought he was a beggar but he never begged passerby to give him some
money, and I didn’t know his job; maybe he just sat here and waited for someone or he
was thinking at that time. I felt lonely when I saw him; I could image when I become
an old man what would happen depend on the old guy. No one care me, on one touch
me, I are just a lonely person and watch people pass me every day. Few days ago, I saw
a young lady fall down and three men ran to help her that is a striking contrast. Everyone
will be old in the future, I think you don’t want to be treated like the old man. I don’t
have right to blame others because I am the same as others, I don’t help the old man,
either.
When I walked through the old man, I felt much colder, maybe the weather, maybe
the passerby, maybe myself.