Ding-dong. Was that really the doorbell? Seriously, it's 10:30 at night and we're all in bed. (That was odd for me to be in bed that early, but I'm glad I was!) The lights are out, inside and out. I shove Bill.
"Babe, I think someone just rang the doorbell."
He hops out of bed. OK, "hops" might not be the word for it, but he did get up rather quickly. OK, "quickly" might not be the word for it either, but he did get up faster than he does when his alarm goes off. (I think I'm going to get in trouble for these comments)
He heads out to the livingroom noticing that EVERY light in the house is OFF. (except the dimmed hall light so the girls can make it to the bathroom at 2am) The livingroom door is open, but the screendoor is closed and locked. There is a man standing outside and he speaks.
"Hey big guy, It's James from across the street." Yes, one of our friendly neighborhood homeless guys came ringing in the middle of the night. Somehow this guy gave Bill a pet name and calls him "big guy" which is interesting because this man is taller than Bill and a bit long around the middle too. Whatever, I was relieved that the man behind the door was someone that I knew.
"Do you have a blanket I can have?" At this point I'm already into the livingroom and I tell Bill that I will get one. While I'm in the back room getting the pathetic raggedy quilt that I just took off our bed the previous week, James tells Bill that it is really cold out there sleeping at the bus stop. (The park closes from midnight to 6am) He also faintly apologizes for waking us up and not realizing that we were asleep. Again, there we NO lights on! No TV on! No movement whatsoever!
James, I'm not really mad at you like this may sound, just appauled at your shortsightedness. But then again, maybe if I couldn't sleep because it was cold and the bus stop bench was a hard metal that didn't even begin to be long enough for my body I would understand. Bring the blanket back in a week or so and I'll wash it for you. I'm sorry you were cold.
2 comments:
Let's me know if you need any more blankets for him. I've got a ton that I need to get rid of. He could just have one of mine to keep.
You're so sweet. And I loved the nickname thing. I always want to research the nearest homeless shelters and give them out to people who look cold or ask for help. I haven't done it yet though. Is your guy open to making the trip there on cold nights? It's so sad.
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