today on the bus

two black men, one thin and one short, both age ~50-60 and wearing ~4-5 sweaters and thick jackets get on the northbound halsted bus. the thin man is wearing sunglasses despite the darkness outside, with a seeming lack of awareness. the short man is wearing two scarves tightly wrapped around his neck, as though he has a gunshot wound. they sit across the aisle from each other. the thin man shakes his head. 

'cold outside.'

'yeah,' says the short man. 

'too cold. cold as...cold as shit.'

'yeah.'

'freeze your goddamn...goddamn face off. freeze your damn nose off.'

'uh huh.'

'could be worse though.'

'yeah.'

'it's been colder.'

'uh huh.'

there's a long silence. both men stare straight ahead. 

the thin man shakes his head. 

'sure could be worse.'

the short man nods. 

'could be dead.'