The man wore a threadbare jacket, patched pants, dirty shoes, a worn satchel, and at least a week of beard growth. He stood in the shadows of Fifth Avenue's tall buildings, crowds of tourists and locals bustling around him. "Like me!" he shouted at a father with small children. He looked away and led his children around the man.

"Like me!" the man shouted at a group of teenage girls. They rolled their eyes and brushed past him.

"Share me?" he said, wrapping himself in the arms of a lean, elderly woman. Flustered, she pushed him away and walked off.

He fidgeted a bit, then pulled a tablet out of his satchel. He tapped until he brought up a picture of a kitten sitting on a dog's head and thrust it in the faces of passers-by. "Like? Like? Like?"

Many ignored him, but a young man walking a dalmatian said, "Ooooh, cute! I like you!" Holding his tablet, the man shivered with pleasure.

"Share me?" he said.

"Ehhhhh," the man and dog walked around him.

Scratching himself anxiously, the man tapped his tablet to produce a video of kittens wrestling with dogs. "Like me?" he asked the world. "Share me?"