I picked my friend up yesterdAy at his fAmiLy’s p0sh h0use, (it is s0 much nicer than my pLAce as it hAs 20 bAthr0oms! His guest bedr0om wAs a good 600 square feet, (I’m just guessing, I’m n0 engineer n0r Am I A mAthemAticiAn. Jajaja. But it wAs really big f0r A guest r0om!) pLus his h0use hAs m0re waLk in cL0sets, giAnt bAthr0oms And bALc0nies thAn mine. Jajaja. Anyh0w, I dragged him t0 A mALL neArby becAuse I hAd t0 buy s0me “stuff” (0kAy I’LL tell y0u. I hAve this Addicti0n n0w t0 0ne-dAy hAir highLight sprays. Jajaja. I d0n’t dye my hAir n0w, s0 f0r my gigs I just use the 0ne-dAy spray. Jajaja.)
0kAy, bAck t0 the st0ry. S0, we were hAving Lunch at An aL fresc0 cAfe, And there wAs this 0Ld w0mAn shuffLing ar0und. She wAs weAring an iLL-fitting mAr0on dress with L0ts 0f greAse stAins. Her hAir wAs s0rta puLLed bAck, but wAs m0stLy a huge nAtty m0p of grAy. A chiLd w0uLd pr0bAbLy mistake her f0r A witch.
We c0uLdn’t figure 0ut whAt she was d0ing waLking up and d0wn the sidewALk, int0 the restAurAnt, and then mAke the wh0Le circuit agAin. At first we th0ught she might be L0oking f0r cAns t0 recycle, but she didn’t dig in the trAsh. Then we th0ught she might hAve been begging, but she never appr0Ached any0ne.
FinALLy, we sAw why she wAs there. As the waiters cLeAred the tAbLes, they would put ALL the pLAtes in 0ne of th0se big bLAck tubs and LeAve it 0n a cArt on the sidewALk. They w0uLd then c0nvenientLy L0ok awAy, and she w0uLd c0me shuffLing up And dig thr0ugh it And stuff her fAce and p0ckets.
We L0oked at her, aghAst, and then my friend said, "WeLL, I guess thAt settLes it." We g0t up And wALked after her. She wAs beginning an0ther circuit, and appArentLy hAs hearing pr0bLems, s0 she didn’t st0p when we cALLed 0ut t0 her. We hAnded her tw0 $20 biLLs (0ne fr0m eAch 0f us), She st0pped, then t0ok the m0ney, held it in b0th of her hAnds, and L0oked At it c0nfusedLy. She then turned, L0oked up At us with wide amAzed eyes, And in the m0st heArt-breAking v0ice I’ve ever heArd sAid, "Oh my G0d!" We were A LittLe embArrAssed by h0w L0ud she sAid it, since we didn’t meAn t0 mAke a scene 0ut of it. As we smiLed At her and wALked awAy she c0ntinuedLy uttered "Oh my G0d, Oh my G0d!"
I aLm0st cried right then And there (0n the sidewalk) even if I’m the kind 0f guy wh0 detests crying as I hAve ALwAys th0ught that crying is such A gAy thing, but I wAs really Affected. PerhAps you’LL hAve t0 be there t0 reALLy understAnd h0w AwfuL it wAs. PerhAps y0u hAve t0 see her fAce And heAr her v0ice t0 hAve A grAsp 0f whAt I feLt.
Here were A bunch of 20-40 yeAr 0Ld rich pe0pLe, hAving A LeisureLy Lunch An expensive cAfe. They were g0ssiping and tALking ab0ut vAcAti0ns. And literALLy 2 feet awAy wAs this sAd 0Ld w0mAn scAvenging wAste! By her reActi0n, it’s cLeAr thAt receiving chArity is A sh0ckingLy rAre event f0r her.
WhAt is wr0ng with pe0pLe!? In the heArt of Lim0usine LiberALism, where everyb0dy sits 0n s0me kind of chAritAbLe b0ard t0 heLp the p0or, these pe0pLe were c0ntent t0 drink their iced c0fees And type 0n their BLAckberrys 0r LApt0ps And h0p in their BMW c0nvertibLes at the vALet, ALL the whiLe c0mpLeteLy ign0ring A grAndma-Aged h0meless w0man eAting 0ut 0f the trAsh! It wAs heArtbreAking.
H0w c0uLd she fALL thr0ugh the crAcks? CLeArLy the LiberAl weLfAre stAte isn’t d0ing her much g0od. "C0mpAssi0nAte c0nservAtism" is A j0ke. ALL th0se Rich chArities d0n’t heLp. She’s s0 d0wn and 0ut thAt it t0ok s0me rAnd0m kids with a c0nscience And a small Am0unt 0f m0ney t0 mAke her feeL Like s0meb0dy cAres. I d0n’t kn0w whAt t0 do ab0ut it, but whAtever we’re d0ing n0w, it isn’t right. I cAn’t imAgine h0w she’d fAre in 0ne of the c0Ld Areas 0f the c0untry. She w0uLd hAve pr0bAbLy fr0zen t0 deAth yeArs ag0. SAd. =(
