A Regular Job

Mahamadou drags on the 2 train at 149th Street. He is loaded down with a folding table, six large boxes, a tarp, a plastic crate, an over-stuffed backpack and a radio roped around his neck.

“They’re the tools of the trade,” he says.

Selling merchandise along 14th Street is his trade.

“Yankee stuff mostly,” Mahamadou says with a smile. “T-shirts are a hot seller in the summer, but now I’ve got gloves and socks and winter hats and Yankee Stadium snow globes, too.

“Business is good,” he continues. “One person bought 20 snow globes yesterday.”

He came from Senegal about eight years ago and has carved out a spot in the city.

“It feels good to know where you’re going every morning,” Mahamadou explains. “Having a regular job is the best thing in the world.”

There’s some disappointment in the morning paper.

“I feel bad for Phil Hughes,” he says. “The newspapers talk about trading him like he is an old shoe or a snow globe.

“He’s a man with feelings,” Mahamadou continues. “And he doesn’t even know where he’ll be working tomorrow. That would scare me.”

He stuffs the paper in his backpack and drags off the train for another day on the job.

“I’m hoping to sell 20 more snow globes.”