April 3, 2023 

A Toast to You

Living in New York City can be a great experience, but for those without much money, it can be a challenge. I often found myself taking odd jobs to make some extra income. One of my favorite jobs was promoting products, as it allowed me to meet new people and make some money.

One day, I arrived at an address provided by the marketing team, only to find a large foam contraption in the shape of a piece of bread. They asked me to put it on and wear it in the middle of Times Square. At first, I hesitated, but then I decided that it was worth it for the money.

I had a partner who walked around with me, passing out pamphlets on the benefits of whole grains. The bread did not fit them, or so they said. No one gave me any directions on what to do, so I decided to make the best of it. I thought of a song that had to do with bread and sang it very loudly, “One fine day a man got it in his head, you take a toaster oven and you buy a bag of bread, you got toast! Yeah, toast!” At that point, I had nothing to lose, so I seized the moment.

People came up to me and talked to me, laughed with me, and found fun in it. Sometimes the best times come when you leave some of your sanity behind and just embrace the craziness that can be life. I remember so many smiles that day. I’m not sure how well I got the message across that people should be eating bread, but I know they were enjoying bread that day.

After my day of singing and laughing about bread, I was toast. I took off the bread costume and went home. And just like that, it was all over. It was a day that I will never forget. A memory for me, and those hundreds of strangers, that remains engrained as a time I rose to the occasion for a little bread.