Val, the Possible Enabler, Has No Regrets

I was in a foul mood coming out of the Gas Station Chicken Store on Saturday. YOU KNOW WHY! My handicap space was taken again by the usual suspect. I was right in front of that offending vehicle, going past to get to T-Hoe parked behind in the FREE AIR space, when I heard...

"Hi. Uhh..."

It was a guy I had seen come up from the moat that separates the parking lot from Hick's pharmacy parking lot. Rather than walking along the back alley road that connects them, this guy had just gone down one side and up the other. It's usually dry at the bottom, or just a trickle. 

Moat Guy was in his early 30s, I think. Wearing light colored jeans, a t-shirt, and a gray zip-up hoodie, the hood of which covered his noggin. A noggin that I later found to be bald in front, with the rest of the stubble on his scalp the color of hair. You know that color. Not brown, not gray. Just hair-colored.

Anyhoo... Moat Guy walked over towards the gas pumps leading to the front door. He didn't get too close, but it was clear he wanted to talk to me.

"I've been walking. I haven't had anything to drink for a whole day. My food card is delayed. It won't be here for three or four days. I've been staying with my friend, and said I'd help pay the electric bill."

"Here. I can spare a dollar for you."

I had it right there in my hand, on top of the two crossword scratchers and two Christmas scratchers and the Cash4Life draw ticket that I get every day for The Pony. That dollar was my change, from cashing in a $20 winner and getting those tickets. I couldn't imagine just walking by this guy with that dollar in plain sight. He took it and thanked me. And kept talking!

"I'm on my way over to School-Turn Town. I've got another friend over there. I'm going down the old road. It's only about seven miles. I need to find myself a job so I can earn some money to help out."

"You know what? I never do this. But I want you to have this." I took a twenty out of my pocket and handed it to him. "I don't care what you do with it. Maybe you will find somebody else who wants to help out."

By this time, White Truck Dude was coming out. We were standing right in front of his truck. If only I was evil enough to keep standing there, talking to Moat Guy, preventing White Truck Dude from leaving, heh, heh. He couldn't back up, because T-Hoe was too close, since the white truck was taking up part of the FREE AIR space as well as the handicap space. Alas, I just hastened along as White Truck Dude got in and closed the door.

"I've got to get going. I hope everything works out for you."

As I was walking alongside the white truck, Dude took off. But Moat Guy stayed at the corner of the building, still talking!

"Hey, my house is so dusty, that when I was cleaning it, I looked in the mirror, and thought, 'When did I grow hair?' It was DUST on my head!" He pulled down his gray hoodie, and showed his head. Which was not dusty now. Just bald in front.

I chuckled and gave him a wave as I climbed into T-Hoe. He seemed harmless enough, but I was not about to offer him a ride! Val may be a soft touch for beggars, but she is NOT soft-headed!

I've never seen Moat Guy around here. He wasn't standing outside the store begging. He didn't have a sign. Didn't appear drunk or high. He wasn't stick-thin, and didn't have meth teeth or a beer belly. Just a regular size guy, not dressed for a black-tie dinner, but not in dirty rags. I think maybe he had mental issues, maybe getting his food card because of a disability. He rambled, but knew how to speak in sentences. Seemed a bit lonely.

Twenty-one dollars is not going to bankrupt me. It's not enough that he could buy something that would harm himself. I figure he needed it more than I did. As I went past on the side street at the light, I did not see Moat Guy walking down the road to School-Turn Town. Nor was he outside the Gas Station Chicken Store. Maybe he was inside, buying a drink. Of one sort or another...

My mood had greatly improved.