This week's people watching

The two people who made the biggest impression on me this week …

High-tech Granny. I saw her on a cold, wet Green Line el platform. Red flannel coat with BIG plastic buttons. Bright floral babushka tied tightly to protect her curly gray do from the humidity. Anchored with a pair red earmuffs. I would have pegged her as 70 and more comfortable in Polish than English. Probably taking the el downtown to meet other lady friends who were dressed just like her, or perhaps for an appointment with a specialist. Yep, I superficially decided I knew everything about the old girl. Until her expensive Blackberry (or maybe it was a Treo) went off and she began barking authoritatively to someone on the other end.

The saddest boy ever. He lives on the first floor of my building. We pass in the lobby all the time, occasionally I've seen him in town and this week we ended up doing our laundry together. He's about 40, lives with his mom, and works at the local Jewel. His mother had a stroke last year and is very slow in recovering. I've seen him walking with her and he's very patient, which probably isn't easy because I knew her before the stroke and … well … she was an odd old bat with questionable hygiene even then. I recently learned that he has a sister, but his mother refuses to see her since Sis refused to cut off all ties with Dad after the divorce. Therefore the responsibility for caring for Mom falls completely on him. He loves art and wants to see the Picasso exhibit at the Art Institute. He loves to gamble and wishes he could go back to one of the boats. But his life is spent going between work -- stocking and stacking at the Jewel -- and home to his mother. His world seems so small, so sterile and isolated. And there's such a weariness to him when he talks art or slots. I'm tempted to see if he'd like to go out for ice cream or something, just as a gesture of friendship. But he seems to have something of a crush on me and I don't want to mislead him. At any rate, he made me very grateful for my motley crew of friends. They are a constant source of support and comfort for me.