Eye Contact with the Wet and the Homeless
I don't have a heart of pure coal, there are sparks of softness in there and its hard to not feel some sympathy for people who are down on their luck sitting out in the cold, trying to stay dry in what passes for a Californian winter wonderland.

I felt bad for the guy, I could see he was cold, he was hungry and he was definitely not enjoying his current status of the street, at least not today. I was on my way into the grocery store, walked past him, said hello to him, recognized his existence, expected a request for some spare change but none came. So I fully expected it on my way back out.

I'd contemplated buying him a cinnamon roll or a muffin or something tangible but did not. I don't really know why, it wasn't a question of the money, who really cares about two bucks anyway (excepting those that don't have two bucks at all)? And its almost Christmas so why didn't I get it for him on that spirit? I don't know aside from the ubiquitous blogger ennui against Christmas in general. Although perhaps ennui isn't the proper term, maybe its more of a deep and lasting dissatisfaction with a holiday firmly rooted in commercial enterprise.

In any case, I did not buy him a cinnamon roll and since I'd used my debit card I had no change to give to him when he did ask me, after I'd already walked by him, he sort of blurted it out but I replied that I had none and was sorry. And kept walking back to my office.

I guess I'm wondering if homeless beggar types generate more income during crappy weather like this because people automatically feel worse for them than usual? After all, its damned hard to feel all that bad about someone lazing in a public park all day in the sun with their pals drinking cheap wine and laughing alot. Or heckling people from their perch next to a dumpster, drunk at 10 in the morning. Or, the homeless person's most irritating trick, when they cross a street and there are more than two of them, they will do this either consciously or unconsciously but they'll spread themselves out to take up the absolutely most amount of time possible to cross the road, a ten foot gap is normal and they will shuffle at an excrutiatingly slow pace. Have the audacity to beep at them because the light's green and you've got a job or other mildly important place to get to and they'll downshift to move even slower, "accidentally" dropping one of their plastic shopping bags filled with more bags or whatever the hell else they've got. If you're lucky then you might get "treated" to a freak out, a short (hopefully) expression session by the homeless wank.

It goes like this, something sets him off and he commences to generate random arm gestures, head movements, leg movements and strange voices emanate from his gullet. I've seen two homeless yanks having simultaneous freakouts, one in the crosswalk, the other at the corner, it was like they were competing or some garbage. And what can the driver do? They have no interest in coming in contact with the filthy crazy bugger as its far more likely they've got something unsavory then they are clean. Sit out, rev your engine, honk your horn, fiddle with the radio or whatever but that asshole homeless guy is going to finish his performance before moving on.

Anyway, I feel bad for not getting the guy a cinnamon roll but hey, I rode my bike to work in the rain, where's MY friggin' sympathy? Not that it was that bad, I rather enjoyed the spectacle of it.

And time for a spot of good news, we'll know today if the house is clear of termites and, therefore, ready for us to move in. The closing date is now the 7th of January which means we'll have to vacate our current spot a month early on a year long lease but that's alright. But it also means that I'll be getting a beater car soon and that's fine by me because a 15 mile bike ride in the rain just ain't happening! Keep your fingers crossed that the inspection goes well.