Quotes by Marlin Bressi

Most families around town only had a bottle of aspirin in their medicine cabinets. If you had the flu, you took an aspirin. If you had a toothache, you took an aspirin. If you were bitten by a snake, you took an aspirin. If you developed kidney problems from taking too much aspirin, you took an aspirin. You wouldnt even think of going to the emergency room unless your leg was hanging by a thread. And even then you might wait a while.

My main concern while in New York wasnt becoming a hot shot. I was more concerned with staying alive, and that took all the pleasure out of the experience. I didnt know where to find a grocery store so I subsisted on hot dogs, peanuts and whatever else I could buy from a street vendor. I didnt know how to hail a cab (apparently theres an art to it). I stood on the edge of the sidewalk and waved my arms around but no one stopped, so I limited my entire universe to however far I could walk and I never walked too far because I was afraid Id get lost and never find my way back home again. Perhaps thats why there are so many homeless people in New York; maybe theyre not really lost, maybe some of them have homes but they just dont know how to get there.