Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Panhandling Hotspot


My car was wicked dirty today, so I made the decision to go to the pay and spray off G-Dale Blvd just down from the Cha Cha. I was spraying and washing and mopping and waxing when this homeless man walked into the establishments parking area. Littered with vacuums and car wash tunnels, I quickly realized why I was the only person using any of the gear at this place. it was a hotspot for loose change and people with plenty of spare change in their pockets. "SHIT." i thought to myself as this grizzled man with a cane began searching the vacuum areas, as they were first in his line of walk. even with the infinitely impossible chance that this guy is on a computer reading my blog, i will not go into deats on his name or clothes or specifics. I would soon be on that same line, with his 'Donnie Darko' fluid chest thing ending on me (if you are in the dark on this reference, there is a part in the film where the main character has a thing come out of his chest and guides him around the house, ending in his parents closet getting a gun out of a shoe box. That movie used to be so cool, now its just stupid). If this did anything good for my psyche, it made me wash faster and use less quarters; which in the end would be left over for our antagonist, the bum.
Washing continues, and the man finally gets to me. "Do you have any change?" he asks. I continue washing and acting like I cant hear what he is saying. "Do you.." once again. "Whats up man?" I give him some attention. "Can you spare some change?" I think of the first thing to leak out of my mouth like the water being sprayed onto my ride. "Sorry, but all my change is being sprayed out of this water gun right here." shifting the sprayer as if he was unsure what i was referring to. He then walked away.
The lesson learned here was to not be a dick to the guy, cause whats the point in that? And also that there are a few places I need to keep in mind and conscious of going to because they are "Bum Hotspots". These places include laundry mats, do it yourself car washes, and arcades (but they might just get tokens there. which is cool by me because then they can have a good time playing a game or two).

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