XVI: Christmastime During The Economic Crisis

Beneath the first of three concrete arches that separate the smoking from non-smoking sections of a hiply decorated establishment at Euclid and Maryland, beside a structural pillar adorned in "no loitering" signs, a game of chess is progressing between a young man in a fleece Santa hat and a comfortably dressed one that looks of mostly indecision, refereed by an unofficial in orange. I'm sitting in my usual, feet propped on a wooden platform ofthe uncomfortable seating of the place, ignoring for a moment the conversation droning around in favor of the observation of these characters. Pulling his queen from space 3B, replaced by a white pawn, and resting her at his elbow, the festive man's brows decend slightly toward his hollow temples in shame, then sweep high across his forehead, obscured by the faux fur of his festive headwear.

Santa is nervous