Three pigeons landed near a sleeping homeless person, huddled up in the alcove of a building along 4th Street. The biggest pigeon, Paul, strutted by the slumbering figure as Marta, the medium-sized pigeon, walked by pretending not to see.

Paul said, "Marta, how can you just ignore this man? If I recall, you were homeless once, too."

Marta stopped to peck aimlessly at a crumb of bagel on the street.

The third pigeon, Gideon, was looking across the street at the bustling bakery, hoping to spot somebody dropping a morsel of bread or muffin, preferably banana-nut, because it was his favorite.

Marta turned to Paul and said, "I was homeless, yes. I feel for this human, but what can I do? I'm a lowly pigeon. They think of us as the rats of the sky."

Paul understood Marta's resentment, but felt that it was somewhat misplaced, because after all, they were all living, breathing creatures, and the pigeons relied on the humans.

Eventually, a patron of the bakery dropped a scone, and the three birds flapped of