Due to inclement weather (below 50 degrees) work at the Shanty was suspended last week. Assuming the weather improves we should be back next week with the HGTV portion of our update. In the meantime here is a little true story to tie you over.
For many years I had an office off of Interstate 10 East of Houston. If you are unfamiliar with the area you should know that I10 on the East side of Houston is a bit industrial and just a wee bit lagging behind Beverly Hills in property values. The I10 corridor is a route heavily trafficked by homeless, transients, and 18 wheelers. You get the idea. So one day (I was probably in my late 20’s) I pulled into a run down truck stop to grab some gas. My old Dodge 4×4 clearly wasn’t concerned with MPG’s, or the lack thereof, on my pocket book and required frequent trips to the pump. It was thirstier than a camel on a hot……. screech…… Forget I said that. Despite being Southern, and proud of it by the way, I am resisting the use of idioms. So as I was saying, I needed gas (again) and pulled into an old filling station on I10. I ran into the store, threw down $10 and ran back to the pump. On my way back I was approached by a homeless guy asking for money. He looked bad off. All sorts of visible health issues. None that I could help with. I am an IT guy not a physician. Anyway, he was asking for money and I really don’t like to give folks cash so I asked him what he needed the money for. He said “Man I am not a drunk if that’s what you are saying. I need to eat”. No problemo. I told him to wait right there.
I ran into the store and bought all sorts of food. Beef jerky, corn nuts, candy bars. I tried to limit the junk food but I’m telling you there is nothing healthy in these places. Anyway, junk food is better than no food, so I handed him the bag. He gives me a huge smile, thanks me, looks in the bag and says “man I can’t eat this”. His look of excitement turned to one of disappointment. I’m thinking dang, did I miss the mark that bad. It’s junk food. I get it. I already ran this through my head when I bought it. So I asked him why he couldn’t eat it. He says “I ain’t got no teeth”. Well crap. Okay. I really wasn’t sure what to do next so I told him to come into the store with me and we will shop together.
Well this didn’t go over so well with the store owner. As we walked in he started yelling in some sort of middle eastern language and waving his arms all over the place. I am not sure what he was saying but it was clear he didn’t want the homeless guy in the store. I told him to go back outside and I carried on buying “soft” food. Donuts, bean dip, pretty much every Hostess product in the place.
After I paid I told the store owner he was an asshole and that I would not be back. He didn’t respond, which was fine by me. A fellow human got something to eat. Probably two because I told him to give the stuff he couldn’t eat to someone else in need, who had teeth! He laughed about the whole thing and thanked me profusely.
The entire interaction was quite unexpected and quite funny. I drove away giggling.
You are probably wondering why I am telling you this story. To be honest I am not quite sure. Maybe it’s to ensure that if you find yourself in a position to help out someone who is hungry that you first confirm the presence of teeth. Or maybe I just thought the whole encounter was somewhat humorous. Apart from the dying of hunger part of the story of course, but hey the guy I was helping laughed about it. Maybe I just saw my own imperfect reflection and found that interesting to share. Who really knows why I am sharing this story. I certainly don’t. About all I can say with any sort of confidence is that one of the reasons I am here is to write something for your entertainment and I figured I shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to vocalize a need for humanity along with a bit of a laugh.