Winding dooooooooooown ...
Today was very relaxed ... all thoughts of the w-word were put out of my head ;-)
I went out to a late bre-fah with S, and gabbed n such, then went for what is shaping up to be another version of the WORST manicure, EVER(!), but even a bad manicure is better than chipped, flaking polish :-p~ I'm still stuck on 'Russian On A Party' :-)
Afterwards, S and I decided to break camp for a while, so I went home, had a bit of a liedown, and then dinked around on *this* contraption, for a bit. I was *such* a slacker!
At about 7-ish, S swung around to pick me up, and we went over the hill, to the Fairfax Laemlee, to see a documentary called 'Burning Man: Burning Sensation' .. eh, it was passable ;-) On the way out of the movie, I almost plowed straight into Giovanni Rubisi (sp)! He's so *teeny*, tee hee! :-D
We then head to Canter's, for a late dinner. We each had chocolate egg cremes and chicken matzo ball soup (a tad salty, but still good). I also had a beef french dip, which came with HUGE steak fries, and some fresh ranch dressing for dipping :-9
On the way back to our cars, I noticed this tiny, frail-looking woman, discreetly tucked into the walkway of one of the over-priced, pretentious furniture stores. She never said a word, but I noticed her eyes looking up briefly to everyone who walked past, then drop right down to her lap, again. I felt her eyes on me, as well, as I walked past.
I deal with plenty of vagrants and unfortunates down here (I'm not sure if that's the most 'PC' of terms, but it's the best I can muster), on a daily basis, and I am always quick to offer to buy them a meal and/or a n/a drink, and/or a pack of smokes, but I refuse to give out $$$, except to purchase a bus pass for someone, or also to various missions and shelters (and those tend to be a mixture of $$$, food, and clothing). I find myself constantly amazed with the blatant and pressuring guilt trips, as well as (more times than not) the outright rudeness and overdeveloped sense of 'entitlement' that some of these individuals have. I definitely do NOT begrudge them their predicament(s), but I also refuse to be held responsible for bailing them out, or supplying their next 'fix' (booze, pills, etc.)
I asked my friend to hand me my dinner bag, and I walked back to the woman, and asked her if she'd eaten yet. She replied, "A little (though I really didn't think so) ... what are you offering?" I explained that I had an uneaten half of a french dip and some hot fries with her name on them, if she wanted them (she did).
I might not have been able to have given her a job, or put a roof over her head, but I felt better knowing that she at least had some food in her stomach, to help her through to see another day, and have another chance to find just those things, should she desire them. I hope some good fortune smiles upon her, soon :-)
I catch up with my friends, and we escort S to her car, then walk back to our own. We wind up taking a really roundabout way back and have ourselves a nice silly drive home. To which I find myself here, and ready for beddie byes ...
G' Night, LJ :-D
I went out to a late bre-fah with S, and gabbed n such, then went for what is shaping up to be another version of the WORST manicure, EVER(!), but even a bad manicure is better than chipped, flaking polish :-p~ I'm still stuck on 'Russian On A Party' :-)
Afterwards, S and I decided to break camp for a while, so I went home, had a bit of a liedown, and then dinked around on *this* contraption, for a bit. I was *such* a slacker!
At about 7-ish, S swung around to pick me up, and we went over the hill, to the Fairfax Laemlee, to see a documentary called 'Burning Man: Burning Sensation' .. eh, it was passable ;-) On the way out of the movie, I almost plowed straight into Giovanni Rubisi (sp)! He's so *teeny*, tee hee! :-D
We then head to Canter's, for a late dinner. We each had chocolate egg cremes and chicken matzo ball soup (a tad salty, but still good). I also had a beef french dip, which came with HUGE steak fries, and some fresh ranch dressing for dipping :-9
On the way back to our cars, I noticed this tiny, frail-looking woman, discreetly tucked into the walkway of one of the over-priced, pretentious furniture stores. She never said a word, but I noticed her eyes looking up briefly to everyone who walked past, then drop right down to her lap, again. I felt her eyes on me, as well, as I walked past.
I deal with plenty of vagrants and unfortunates down here (I'm not sure if that's the most 'PC' of terms, but it's the best I can muster), on a daily basis, and I am always quick to offer to buy them a meal and/or a n/a drink, and/or a pack of smokes, but I refuse to give out $$$, except to purchase a bus pass for someone, or also to various missions and shelters (and those tend to be a mixture of $$$, food, and clothing). I find myself constantly amazed with the blatant and pressuring guilt trips, as well as (more times than not) the outright rudeness and overdeveloped sense of 'entitlement' that some of these individuals have. I definitely do NOT begrudge them their predicament(s), but I also refuse to be held responsible for bailing them out, or supplying their next 'fix' (booze, pills, etc.)
I asked my friend to hand me my dinner bag, and I walked back to the woman, and asked her if she'd eaten yet. She replied, "A little (though I really didn't think so) ... what are you offering?" I explained that I had an uneaten half of a french dip and some hot fries with her name on them, if she wanted them (she did).
I might not have been able to have given her a job, or put a roof over her head, but I felt better knowing that she at least had some food in her stomach, to help her through to see another day, and have another chance to find just those things, should she desire them. I hope some good fortune smiles upon her, soon :-)
I catch up with my friends, and we escort S to her car, then walk back to our own. We wind up taking a really roundabout way back and have ourselves a nice silly drive home. To which I find myself here, and ready for beddie byes ...
G' Night, LJ :-D