Great To See

Juan Carlos gets up early. He pushes his cart to the Grand Concourse, picks up donuts and muffins and makes coffee. Then he waits for everyone else to wake up.

The people start coming when it’s still dark and they don’t stop until almost lunchtime. Juan Carlos makes his lunch from whatever muffins are left over.

“I smear them with peanut butter,” he explained. “They fill me up good.”

Juan Carlos then cleans the coffee maker and gets the propane tank filled before pushing his cart back to the storage building.

Then he walks home and falls asleep with the baseball game on the radio. He doesn’t make it to many games, but last night he sacrificed a good night’s sleep and sat in section 3 – one of his customers gave him the ticket – because Humberto Sanchez is a Yankee.

“He doesn’t know me,” Juan Carlos explained, “but I know him. I saw him pitch in high school and I used to always see him around the neighborhood. Now, he is everything: a ballplayer and a Yankee. I had to come and see.”

Sanchez didn’t pitch last night, but Juan Carlos saw enough.

“I spotted him during the anthem and on the top step of the dugout a few times,” Juan Carlos said. “He warmed up in the bullpen and I thought he might get in there, but he didn’t.”

Juan Carlos smiled and continued:

“It was still great to see.”