Good Morning, my Darling,
Our homeless friend came back this morning. I got to Pearl's at 7:30, got her breakfast ready and was feeding Kobi and Black Kitty when the doorbell rang. I walked back around through the dining area and looked through the window, and I could see the guy out by the gate. He was moving back and forth across the driveway, trying to see if he could see us in the house, through the same window. "Oh brother, here we go again".
I went outside to talk to him across the fence. Me : "Hey, how's it going", said in a flat tone of voice, no emotion.
He asked me if I could drive around the corner, to give his "Mexcan friend" a jump start. I wanted to end the encounter, so I very quickly said "yes", then, "does he have cables"? I am not a large person, but I am quick, and I have my own body language to show impatience, or to let someone know when they are overdoing it.
As I said yesterday, I do have compassion for someone down on their luck, but you could tell this guy is a manipulative person. What I do in a situation like that is to turn off all charm, and turn on, to the max, the flat politeness. Rushed and businesslike. "Okay, where's your friend at. Let's jump start him". Got my baseball cap and shades on, no expression. Don't F with me, in other words.
I went back inside to let Pearl know he was back, that I was going around the corner to jump start his friend's car. When I came back out, he was nowhere in sight. So, I slowly backed the car out of the driveway and went down to the corner, about 25 yards away. Pearl lives on a corner lot.
I was about to turn the corner when I saw him walking back up the street from the main boulevard below. He was waving at me so I rolled down the window. "It's okay", he said. "His Mom jump started it for him". I just nodded and rolled the window back up, then turned the car around for the short trip back to Pearl's driveway.
I get out of the car, unlock the gate, lock it back up and proceed to the front door, and there he is, coming up the driveway. I didn't say anything, just turned to look at him. Baseball cap, shades, no expression. He is more resigned now because I am showing alertness and impatience. I hate to be that way, but again, I am not a social worker. If you need food, you can go get 200 bucks worth of food stamps per month. Etc., etc. etc. If you need medical, shelter, whatever, you can get it. But you've gotta be willing to surrender and stop manipulating people. I know the system sucks, shelters must suck on wheels, all that stuff must suck. But what could suck worse than homelessness? If I was homeless, I'd do whatever I had to to get out of that situation.
I know, I know - easy for me to say. And I don't mean to judge. But I've been homeless before, for four whole days when I was using drugs in 1997. It's a long story and I think I've told you some of it. One day I will tell you all of it if you want, it's not lurid or anything, just kinda weird and dumb. But I was homeless for four days because I was higher than a kite and coming down, and I'd been on speed for a while and nobody would talk to me. I kept going to my Mom's apartment and ringing the bell, so I know where this homeless guy is coming from, at least a little bit. In my case, my Mom and family wanted to pull a Tough Love on me. Mom wouldn't answer her bell. So, I slept at the CSUN baseball field for four nights. Went to the Methodist Church for sandwiches and cookies. On the fifth day, I was getting pretty dirty. I finally found Mom down at the McDonalds's at Nordhoff and Reseda. I was not high anymore. And, I'm not a criminal, nor do I have that mentality in any way. My friend and I were a different kind of speedfreaks : we got high and did art, or wrote, or took photos of the earthquake. My life was messed up, because that's what will happen if you do speed for any length of time (and of course I highly recommend never taking any drugs at all, including pot), but other than that, I was never of the criminal or down-and-out mentality. And it is a mentality. In my case, Mom did agree to help me out that day at McDonalds. She took me in, and I've never taken any drug of any kind since then, nor will I ever, and it's hard for me to believe I once had that desire, so thoroughly is it out of my system. That, in part, is what my four days of homelessness did for me. Scared the living daylights out of me, enough so to totally motivate me to turn my life around.
But like I say, it's kinda apples and oranges because I never had the criminal, down-and-out mentality. This guy does, and God Bless because I don't know his story or troubles, but still - he sat at Pearl's table yesterday and went through all his recent criminal history and jail time. I mean c'mon, I'm sorry you're having trouble, but maybe if you stopped breaking into people's homes........
Oh yeah, but I forgot: the cops framed him.
Well, back to the story. As I was heading to the door, having locked the fence, there he was. "Hey. Do you think you could ask Pearl if she could throw a job or two my way, gimme a couple or three bucks? Maybe I could wash those windows"? Meaning the ones he'd been trying to look into to see if we were home.
In a low voice, I muttered, "I'll ask". Then I walked quickly into the house, and closed and locked the door.
Me: "Pearl, have you got five dollars"? Pearl: "What do you need it for"? Me: "I just wanna get rid of this guy". I wasn't trying to be cheap myself, it's just that I only had a twenty in my own wallet. Pearl opened her purse and did indeed have a five. She handed it to me.
Back out front, I walked briskly over to the fence and handed the folded-up five across to the man, muttering "here you go" as softly as I could. Baseball cap, shades, no expression. "Here you go", meaning "please don't bother us anymore". I mean, most homeless people stand or sit in front of stores. This guy comes to your door and asks for your keys. Then he comes in and tells you his criminal history, all the houses that he didn't burgle, that he was framed for, and also the ones he did burgle, but never in his own neighborhood.
I took Pearl to the dentist shortly after that. While she was there, I took the Kobester up to Northridge Park. It's a very large, wide open green space, acres and acres of grass and a beautiful baseball field put up by the Dodgers organisation, a "Dodger Dreamfield" as they call it. Northridge Park is right across the street from the Devonshire Division Police Department of the LAPD. During my drug days, I actually became a big fan of the cops. My Dad called them on me so many times. I've told you that story, too. It was always for non-stop talking or music playing, or general speeded-out weirdness. Dad was usually pretty hammered himself when he called them, so the cops never took him too seriously. They would always come out, talk to me, and straighten things out. They never once busted me for drugs, even though they caught me with meth five times. It's a long, long story, nothing horrendous. But during that period I became a fan of the police. They've got a very tough job, and despite some bad apples in the department, of which there have certainly been a few, most police officers are indeed any city's Finest. As Grimsley once said, "Hey, if you don't like the cops, next time you're in trouble, try calling a Hippie, see what he can do for you"........
While I was with Kobi at Northridge Park, I noted the nearby Devonshire Division and said a silent "Thank You" for the police.
Back at Pearl's at 10am, we had a short break before she had to go to the hair salon, where she is right now. I closed the curtains in the dining area, so if the guy returned he wouldn't be able to see in the window. As we were backing out of the driveway to go to the hair salon, I described to Pearl the quiet but brusque manner I'd used with the man earlier this morning. I said, "I hope he will get the message and leave us alone now. I'd hate to have to call the cops on him". And I really meant that. The guy is not Public Enemy #1 or anything. But he may not know when to quit.
We backed out of the driveway, and I mentioned "not wanting to call the cops" to Pearl, and as I looked in my rearview mirror before backing out all the way, there was a Police Car, right behind me. Black-and-White, LAPD. The most well-known Police Force in the world. He wasn't in our driveway, but going down our street, verrrrry slowwwwly, with yellow lights flashing. He was looking for someone.
"Hmmm", I said to Pearl. "Isn't that a coincidence. I didn't want to call them, but maybe someone did". I have little doubt they were looking for our friend. The police know who's who, especially when the person has an extensive criminal history.
I can't say I'd be glad if the guy went back to jail. I sincerely would not wish that on him, and the cops probably just wanted to talk to him anyway. Maybe to stop him from pestering people.
But if he did go back to jail, I can't say I'd be surprised. A little relieved, too.
I've gotta go pick Pearl up now. I'll be back before tonight's movie. I Love You.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:05pm : Good Evening, my Baby. I'm writing from Pearl's. All quiet on the Homeless Guy front. I saw your friend Lucy's photo a while ago, and it's excellent work, good grey scale, framing, she didn't cut the corners off her light patterns. Good stuff. I am wondering what she meant by "scanned print"? Does she mean scanned for the computer? I am assuming the print itself was developed in a darkroom, as stated, using basic photo chemicals (Developer/Stop Bath/Fix). She probably just means she scanned it in order to put it on FB. Anyhow - film! I love film, and I especially love black and white film and the printing/enlarging process, and if you haven't done any yet, I hope you get a chance to work with an enlarger, and also to develop your own film. I know it's on the way out as a picture technology, but that's all the more reason to try it while you can. And something tells me that film and film developing & printing, will still be around for a while, at least for aficianados. Too bad that movie film is going down the tubes, but still picture photography should survive a while yet.
Tonight's movie is "Distant Thunder" by Ray. I haven't seen it, so I look forward as always, and I'll be home around the usual time, no later than 10:15pm. For now I'm around till 6:30. Have a great evening.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:10pm : I finished the last part of my walk a few minutes ago. A little chilly out tonight, and on weather.com earlier today (it was either today or yesterday) I saw for the first time this year that Middleton's temperature was higher than the temp in Northridge! I hope it keeps climbing. Where do you prefer it? About 75 maybe, or 80? I have only the Valley to go by, and my ideal temp here is about 85, nice and warm with low to moderate humidity. When it gets below 65 at night, I've got long sleeves on outdoors, or even a sweatshirt. But it's funny because my nephews in Santa Monica (Vickie's kids) say "it's hot" when they come to the Valley and it's 85 degrees. To us locals, that's just "nice weather". Hot is over 95. But they live by the ocean, and it's often foggy or overcast, even in Summer. My guess for you is that you like it, ideally, about 72 or so. Or maybe warmer?
Tonight's movie was good, but more of a docudrama than a plotted film with dramatic storyline. "Distant Thunder" is the story of a famine in Bengal in 1943 that killed 5 million people. It was called "the man-made famine" because it didn't have to happen, but the national rice supply was shifted to the front lines of Burma, where the British Imperial government was fighting the Japanese for control of that country. So people starved, and this movie depicts the experience of a Bengali doctor - a Brahmin - who, as a person of higher caste, is entitled to more food than the "Untouchables" and other lower-caste people who are starving all around him. The movie is basically one scene after another of the characters' search for rice, and the Doctor's guilt at having it available to him. But soon it's available to no one, and the populace is reduced to eating snails and bitter wild leaves. It's not a dramatic movie but more of a "this is what happened" film. So it was good, and effective, but it doesn't blow you away like Ray's masterpieces, ala "The Music Room" or "Pather Panchali". But any Ray is Good Ray, I am discovering.
I hope your evening was good. I am still having fun adding movies, books, shows to my FB, so maybe I will add one per night for a while, of my favorites. Just for something to do.
That's all I know for tonight, my Angel. I will see you in the morn. Sweet Dreams until then......
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment