September 7. The building is now largely occupied by Asian students who come to Columbia for a semester. Not longer: turnaround is high, no neighbors to get used to.

In front of CVS, a beggar sits on a folding stool, shoes off. – Sorry, I have no money for you. – Can you buy me a soda and chips, he calls after me. I don’t have the heart to buy chips, because they would turn my own stomach. I buy a soda. With calories, he can probably use them. I should have bought chips, too. It’s not my business, and he probably would have been happy.