I used to walk along the long corridor connecting the 4,5,6 lines with the N,R lines almost everyday.  Always thought about it as a journey to transfer from one line to the other, never as a destination… until I met Manuel.

For some reason, that day I noticed this white-haired man sitting quietly on one corner of the station. A cardboard box is set up as a desk in front of him and a small bathroom rug is next to it.  Taped to the wall right above his head is this sign: “Spanish lessons for the executive on the go”.  Next to it, a smaller sign that reads: “Price: $1 for men… free if you are a pretty lady. “

Intrigued, I decided to talk to him. He told me his name is Manuel and he’s 65, originally from Perú.
“How can you teach Spanish right here, my friend?” I ask.

“When you want to learn, you can learn anywhere. And the stations are nice. They make my voice sound very deep, perfect for you to remember what I teach you.”
Good point.  I ask him how long he’s been doing this and he tells me he used to play the accordion in the very same spot. One day the accordion broke and he came up with the idea of the Spanish lessons.
“I even have regulars now.  People who come back from work every night stop by and I teach them the word of the day and check their homework.”

He tells me he makes more money now than when he was playing his accordion. Besides, his old hands can’t play that well now because of his arthritis. I look at his hands and see that two of his fingers are deformed.

“So 1 dollar for a guy but free if you’re a pretty lady, eh?”

“Yes, yes… and there are a lot of pretty ones running around here.”

“So who determines how pretty a lady is, Manuel?  What if you get one that is not that pretty but still wants to get a lesson from you?

“Oh… I tell all of them they are very pretty. Even if they are not so much. But you know? That’s the trick…. They always end up giving me some money after I teach them their world of the day. Ha! I make them happy by telling them the lesson is free because there are really pretty…. And they open up that purse and give me the money.  The less pretty they are, the more money they give me. One gave me 20 dollars a few nights ago.”

Somebody came by, a regular, so I said goodbye to Manuel.

I feel that I, too, have learned an important lesson from him.

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