Ever since I was in college (forever ago) I've had a "no help" policy for homeless people. You see, I was once stopped at a red light and there was a woman holding a sign: "Homeless. Need bus fare to Charlotte. Please help." I saw people help. Imagine my surprise and shock when a few weeks later in a different city I saw the exact same woman with the same sign, but different: "Homeless. Need bus fare to Phoenix. Please help."
I was like, make up your mind bitch!
That did it for me. I decided most people were just out to scam you. So as sad as some of the people made me, I still would give nothing.
Fast forward to when I was in FL. My mother and I were eating breakfast in a small restaurant. As we were about to leave a man comes in and gets a table. Clearly he was homeless. He looked like he was from the woods. I admired that he would come into a restaurant. As we went to the cashier to pay, we offered to pay for this man's breakfast. Whatever he wanted. We spoke with his waitress and she said she would find out what he wanted. As it turns out, he didn't want us to buy him anything. He only wanted a $1 English muffin because that was "all he could handle."
Fine. We left $1 and went on our way. I think both of us would have felt better knowing he had some coffee, eggs and toast. He definitely looked like he could have used it. Whatever.
Over the weekend Husband and I went to pick up some take out Chinese. As we waited for our order a homeless woman pushing a shopping cart pulls up to the restaurant and comes inside. We think she has ordered food. She gets a Sprite and a straw from the counter and sits down at one of the 4 tables in this tiny place. Suddenly she gets up and starts punching the chair, then goes outside. It was very bizarre. We got our order and on our way out the door Husband pulls out his wallet and hands me five $1 bills and tells me to give it to the lady who was standing next to her shopping cart. I approached her slowly as she seemed a little "off" and this was confirmed. I held out the dollars and told her we wanted her to have it to buy her dinner. She looked at the dollars and said, "What's that? Is that a one, two, five?" I just stood there not understanding. Then she said, "Oh yeah. That IS a one, two, five area. I can't take a one, two, five area."
So I just walked away with the money and quickly got in the car. Nothing she said made any sense to me. I told Husband she was either mentally ill or high on drugs or both.
It was a very strange experience.
It is also a very frusterating experience. Do these people want help? I now believe that some people want to live this way.
Nomads.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Desperation
My neighbor has been trying to sell his house for over a year now. It is brand new. No one has ever lived in it before. He bought it for himself and while it was under construction he found a property south of here that he liked better, so he bought that one too. He's in real estate and didn't apparently think it would be a problem to sell the first place. His mortgages on the two homes cost him over $12,000 a month! The place next door is very nice. I believe the major problem with it is the lack of storage. The closets are small. The price has been dropped by at least $60,000 since we moved here. He hasn't even had one offer!
Last weekend he sunk to an all new low. I noticed a new sign and could not believe my eyes. Parked in the garage is this and he's giving it away with the house. It is the top of the line model. I told Husband we should consider it because in December we'll be giving out Audi back and then we'd only have one car payment. He said we should wait a few more months to see if the price will drop again. We'll see.
Last weekend he sunk to an all new low. I noticed a new sign and could not believe my eyes. Parked in the garage is this and he's giving it away with the house. It is the top of the line model. I told Husband we should consider it because in December we'll be giving out Audi back and then we'd only have one car payment. He said we should wait a few more months to see if the price will drop again. We'll see.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Guinea Pig Obituary
I swear....I am not making this story up.
I am borrowing this story from someone I will keep anonymous but every bit of it is true.
Thank you, anonymous for giving me content for my otherwise empty brain.
Not too long ago there was a guinea pig named Domino*. He had a good life. He was a lot more than just a guinea pig to his family. He was much more.
To keep him company, his family decided to give him a friend. His new friend turned out to be a female. This was confirmed when Dallas* suddenly popped out 4 baby pigs.
Domino was removed from the scene and sent to live in a different cage, nearby.
Unfortunately for Domino his isolation wasn't the worst thing that would happen in his life.
His neutering was.
You read that correctly, someone actually had the balls to neuter a guinea pig. If you're shaking your head and saying wtf?! I'm right there with you. I never knew it was even possible to do such a thing. And then there is the question...why would you??? Why not just put Domino in a separate cage and be done with it?
Poor Domino.
His "scrotal area" became infected and turned into an abscess that had to be drained by his owner twice a day. The owner did this by using a hot pack. Things did not go well. In time the abscess spread to much of his abdomen and his intestines. He would not recover. He was put to sleep last week.
His family is being positive. He leaves behind Dallas and the baby pigs who look just like him! One of the babies is probably a boy. He will soon be moved into his own cage and the girls will live next door. I believe this has been a learning experience for the family. I am sure the baby will live in peace with his balls intact.
At least I hope so.
*names have been changed to protect the anonymous
I am borrowing this story from someone I will keep anonymous but every bit of it is true.
Thank you, anonymous for giving me content for my otherwise empty brain.
Not too long ago there was a guinea pig named Domino*. He had a good life. He was a lot more than just a guinea pig to his family. He was much more.
To keep him company, his family decided to give him a friend. His new friend turned out to be a female. This was confirmed when Dallas* suddenly popped out 4 baby pigs.
Domino was removed from the scene and sent to live in a different cage, nearby.
Unfortunately for Domino his isolation wasn't the worst thing that would happen in his life.
His neutering was.
You read that correctly, someone actually had the balls to neuter a guinea pig. If you're shaking your head and saying wtf?! I'm right there with you. I never knew it was even possible to do such a thing. And then there is the question...why would you??? Why not just put Domino in a separate cage and be done with it?
Poor Domino.
His "scrotal area" became infected and turned into an abscess that had to be drained by his owner twice a day. The owner did this by using a hot pack. Things did not go well. In time the abscess spread to much of his abdomen and his intestines. He would not recover. He was put to sleep last week.
His family is being positive. He leaves behind Dallas and the baby pigs who look just like him! One of the babies is probably a boy. He will soon be moved into his own cage and the girls will live next door. I believe this has been a learning experience for the family. I am sure the baby will live in peace with his balls intact.
At least I hope so.
*names have been changed to protect the anonymous
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
At Long Last
I returned from Florida over a week ago, but things have been hectic. It's good to be back. The weather in FL was screwy. It was hot and extremely humid the first few days and then freezing cold a few other days. My parents don't seem to notice the humidity at all. I found the entire house to be damp. I just can't get used to that feeling. They try not to turn on the air conditioning until there is no going back. Which means turning it on in Feb/Mar is just out of the question. I slept with the ceiling fan on tornado speed every single night.
I spent the most time with my dad because he has over 200 hours of vacation saved up. He never goes anywhere so I'm not really sure what he is going to do with all that. I wish I had some classic stories to tell of our conversations, but I really don't. Well maybe one. He showed me the collapsible "club" he wears on his belt. He told me he wears it on his belt so that it isn't a "concealed weapon." Out of curiosity I asked the purpose of such a thing. It's for when he goes bike riding in case a dog tries to attack him, so he can beat the shit out of it. Personally, I think a small can of pepper spray would be more effective, but that's just me.
While I was gone Husband survived. He didn't like it, but he somehow managed by himself. He ate all the frozen food in the freezer and never went to the grocery store once. He said he was pretending he had a "bachelor pad." At least he didn't put comet in the dishwasher this time. In fact, he didn't use the damn thing at all. It was full of clean dishes that I didn't unload before I left. Ugh.
I spent the most time with my dad because he has over 200 hours of vacation saved up. He never goes anywhere so I'm not really sure what he is going to do with all that. I wish I had some classic stories to tell of our conversations, but I really don't. Well maybe one. He showed me the collapsible "club" he wears on his belt. He told me he wears it on his belt so that it isn't a "concealed weapon." Out of curiosity I asked the purpose of such a thing. It's for when he goes bike riding in case a dog tries to attack him, so he can beat the shit out of it. Personally, I think a small can of pepper spray would be more effective, but that's just me.
While I was gone Husband survived. He didn't like it, but he somehow managed by himself. He ate all the frozen food in the freezer and never went to the grocery store once. He said he was pretending he had a "bachelor pad." At least he didn't put comet in the dishwasher this time. In fact, he didn't use the damn thing at all. It was full of clean dishes that I didn't unload before I left. Ugh.
