Contemplation of Disaster

I didn't feel like writing last night, so I looked through my photo archives searching for a pretty picture to post. Instead, I found the photo in my last blog entry.

To me, it's a make-you-think photo. I took it early one morning in a park. The man looked like he'd spent the night on the bench and was contemplating a fat pigeon for breakfast. He sat there, silent and unmoving for the 15 or 20 minutes I was in the park, seemingly transfixed by either the pigeons or his own thoughts.

There have been a couple of times in my life when I was one pay check away from disaster. Luckily, I never became sick or was hurt badly enough to miss that cover-the-rent paycheck, and I always managed to scrape together tuition too. I've also always had family that would bail me out if I was in serious trouble.

But what if I was bereft of both luck and family? Once you've fallen, how do you get up again?