I was on my way to work Saturday, feeling so sorry for myself because I was heading to a job that pays me little more than a pittance and where I work vewy, vewy hawd. At a stop light only a few blocks from my home, I saw this gentleman.
The temperature was hovering just above 80 degrees. The furniture store he's advertising has been closing for about 5 years now, and every summer they find a fellow to stand in the heat holding up a sign that I'm sure few people actually read.
I keep a case of Poland Spring in my car, and I stopped next to him , despite the bleating horns behind me, to offer him some water. His face clouded with fear and suspicion, and he waved me on. He never spoke; he simply looked away. I can think of many reasons why he did this. I moved on slowly but threw two bottles out of the passenger side window to land on the grass. Was that bad? I couldn't see that he had anything to drink. I hope it wasn't demeaning. I wonder if he ever found them.
Not two blocks away, at the entrance of a large shopping center, I came upon these two.
These gentlemen were a bit better off. The fellow on the left could find at least a modicum of shade behind his ridiculously huge sign, while the fellow on the right was seated in a chair using his crossed legs to hold up the sign - an ingenous solution. There was a large McDonald's sack (unseen behind those shrubs), so one, if not both, had something to eat and drink. I didn't stop. I didn't want to anger or offend either of these men.
When the light turned green, I continued on to my air-conditioned job where I make enough money to eat, pay my bills, and my rent, and my own health insurance. I don't have to stand in blistering heat holding up a weighty sign, thirsty, inhaling exhaust, and probably being paid far less than minimum wage. I was no longer feeling sorry for myself.
Perspective is everything.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Colony of Losers
cheshyre grin
Steve Blevins
fernsy
Yez
not_yet_born
Salon.com
Comments
LOVE your tags.
At your place of employment however, one of the cashiers told me that he only works the cash register for two hours at a time before going back to stock shelves, that they don't keep cashiers on their feet for long hours, which I think is great. My daughter is a cashier at a big grocery chain and although she gets breaks, she works at the register for six hours at a time. I like where you work, BTW.
Hope your tendinitis is better.
I see more homeless people out here in San Diego. Because where I live is so very expensive to live I'm not surprised at the number of people I see wandering the streets.
I'm not saying the ones holding the signs are homeless. But they need money just as you and I and everyone around us.
It's just that circumstances dictate where one will be in life.
Sometimes making one choice over the other will lead one down a path where it isn't so rosy and happy.
I do know once, as I was walking down a sidewalk very distraught because I had lost my house keys, I was mugged. My first thought was, "Man, I thought I was upset a minute ago!"
It was kind of you to offer him so water, it's pretty sad that he was suspicious of you, hope he drank the bottles you tossed out.
1)Guy who wears the Statue of Liberty outfit and dances outside the Tax Refun Loan ripoff factory
2)Mattress store employee who stands by the highway with pj's on and fake yawns all day.
Although if times get tough I may have to go to work as a sign.
I feel sorry for the ones who have signs about being out of work or "will work for food." And the nasty things people yell at them make me feels so ashamed and angry for our country. I've notices spoiled teens yell the worst things.
Glad you still have your job!