06/30/2024
Disclaimer:
If you believe this event is about clout or recognition, let me be the first to say: NICE F’N TRY
There’s no recording. There’s no staging. I could ignore the needy as much as the next; however, I’ve been needy and it leaves one feeling dreadfully hollow and overlooked.
88 degrees and damn near 100% humidity (thunder storms rolling in soon) I stood waiting at the ATM to withdraw cash in Pottstown, Pa today. 150 feet away between the Wells Fargo and another bank (the irony) laid a woman hiding from the sun, shadowed by a wall a few feet from her. She was utterly motionless and as I punched in my pin, I was not paying attention to the keypad. She made a slight move and I came back into the now.
I got back in the car and looked at my Mom. Sorry, we have to stop at Wawa. “No problem!”
The drugs of choice in Montgomery, Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks counties seem to undergo a weird shift periodically. Sleeping in stifling heat is not a surprise. To do so outside between two banks, perhaps a little surprising.
I bought four bottles of the biggest waters Wawa carried, bought a giant cup of ice, fruit, and two soft pretzels. When I got back in the car, my Mom asked if I was really thirsty. I said they weren’t for me. We went back the back and I hopped out and approach the woman. First, was she okay? I spent two solid minutes saying “excuse me. Ma’am.”
When she came to (barely), she yelled, “I’ll leave. I’ll leave!”
I had to convince her I wasn’t making her move. Once she realized I was just a regular schlep, she looked at the bags. “Here. Please please please stay hydrated? You have to drink in this heat or you’ll get sick.”
“Okay. Thank you. (Looking around to make sure she wasn’t being set up.)
CLEARS THROAT…
Growing up with a Dad addicted to m**h and mom addicted to pills (rheumatoid arthritis from one years old (60+. years), even when we didn’t have a home, we always had a place to stay. From cars to crashing on couches, my Mom provided.
When I think about things being worse for myself, I guess I’m at a point in my life where I would rather change the experience than merely talk about it.
Why did I take that woman water and food? Because when my family needed som**hing, we did without. A few years ago, my mom’s arthritis took its toll AGAIN, and she had her leg amputated. Life is always throwing us curveballs. Unfortunately, many do strike out and it’s game over. That doesn’t have to be the case…
When I got back in the car, she asked where the bags went. I explained what I saw and began to back up. When she saw the woman sitting up and drinking the water, I was reminded that we can’t change the world but we can change A person’s world.
Some will say she will overdose and be dead in days. Others will pray for her. Some will say I wasted time, money, etc. As someone that would have gladly accepted the gesture when I was younger, someone that acknowledges kindness does not have to take a back seat to someone else’s issues or someone else’s transference of anger because they just want someone to care about them the same way and no one ever has. In order to protect ourselves we proclaim “who cares? Most of us. Most of us want to matter. Sometimes it’s the first time we hear it or it sounds and feels so good from someone we admire that it lifts us up.
I guess if this ever became my future, someone like me would find me this time.
