Perspective..or..'Through A Glass Darkly'

Hi;
I chose the gray today because of an incident that happened to me last night.

I left the library at closing time, and as it was so warm out decided to sit on the bench under the street lamp and read for a while, instead of riding the subway for a few hours before slipping into my hidey-hole to sleep. As I was opening a can of Pringles, (THEY TRAVEL WELL>>>LOL), I noticed a fellow homeless guy walking past across the street. I called out to him to say hello, and asked if he wanted some crisps, (THEY CANNOT LEGALLY BE CALLED CHIPS....[trivia courtesy of the PCIofA]..{that's Potato Chip INSTITUTE of America...yes there is such an organization), and he came over and we talked, now this guy, let's call him Mike ( because that's his name), is a kind of a Sad Sack type, always being hassled by the police, and when confronted by them always argumentative or aggressive,...whether he is in the right or not, he is not a BAD or an evil person by a long shot. Now Mike's philosophy of finding shelter is to constantly move from place to place, having many little nests, (mine being..find a safe, quiet, comfortable spot and dig in, as unobtrusively as possible), therefor he is always being rousted and/or busted...he is constantly having run-ins with store owners, and being accused of stealing..( I CANNOT OFFER AN OPINION, HAVING NO EVIDENCE EITHER WAY.....SO I WILL TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD WHEN HE SAYS HE DOES NOT STEAL)..I can see from his general behavior why, he might be SUSPECTED of shoplifting, he is furtive in his actions, like a small rodent, and suffers from low self-esteem and a bit of paranoia, both of which I can relate to and empathize with. Okay, that is back story as it is called in Hollywood, if you remember from last nights post, I had received $5.00 from someone, well after Mike had some crisps, which I had to convince him that I had enough to share, and that if I did not I would not have offerred, we started off in different directions and he said he was going to look for change on the streets because he needed a bus pass for today. Since I had it and needed to give it away, I handed him a dollar towards his pass, I had to fight with him to get him to take it, again stating that if I could not..I would not offer. He then said that he did not want to take it because I am in the same boat he's in. I told him we (the homeless) must look out for one another, and if it bothered him that much, when he had a buck he could give it some one else in need...Pay It Forward. Now gentle reader, I need to be clear and honest here, I really do not 'like' Mike all that much and do not 'hangout' or 'pal around' with him, I am civil and friendly, and willing to talk, but he is only an acquaintance at best, and often an annoyanance, who, if I don't actively avoid, I will not always seek out evevrytime I see him. This is the killer...as we parted ways for the night, Mike turns to me and says "You're my best friend, you're the only person who talks to me, you are my best friend".......you want to talk about being humbled, about putting MY life in another perspective...damn, although I believe that I try to be properly grateful, there has been a certain amount of hubris and complacency I have allowed to settle in. That one sentence made me stop and re-analyze a lot of what I have been doing and not doing. And right now, another wake-up call to make me realize what I have been gifted and blessed with, behind me hee in the library is a guy with what seems to be either Tourette's or Asberger's syndrome, inappropriate and/or uncontrollable outbursts; and the content of his vocalizations seems to be a little 'off kilter'. "But for the grace of God............."

I can't remember the author of the quote (I'll look it up later and insert it), but it goes..."An unexamined life is not worth living"

I think it's past time for a pop quiz!!

Phenomena-Comments-and Notes

(and I stole that from "THE SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE)

The day after I posted my poem 'identity'....my horoscope in the Baltimore Sunpaper was pretty much a prose paraphrase of it....???

I was composing a thread to start on the Addiction Surviors BB, regarding the long term effects of Buprenorphine and whether any other opiate/opiod addicts in recovery have chosen/considered the option of becoming "lifers" as regards maintenance; I logon on the web site...boom up pops someone else raising the same issues at exactly the same time....???

Same scenario..I am in my contacts list looking for Anne's e-mail....before I could paste it in....there she was with a new e-mail for me...???

And today, my first task was to be write Mary...and there she was...???

I like to believe in serendipity and synchronicity...we are all connected..somehow!!

Just when I have a jumbled mass of related yet still disconnected and disorganized phrases spinning in my head, I trip over a Jimmy Buffet CD, "Beach House On The Moon", (literally, it had fallen off the rack in the library and I damn near broke my neck slipping on it!!) that I had not heard before, but which was rich in lyrics and poetry that expressed what I wished to convey, and has inspired me to start writing again.

Well I am going to go outside and really enjoy today for all it's worth while the weather is so lovely, maybe I'll try to make a few bucks too, but even if I don't I think it's time to just appreciate life for it's own sake, and just celebrate the day.

PEACE............Dave