In another lifetime I would stop by my local 7-11 every morning on my way to work. Almost every morning there would be a young, tall black fellow there with newspapers and watered down windex asking to clean your windshield. Sometimes I would let him but I have a rule. Never give a homeless man money. It's my rule, yes it's prejudice I suppose, but it's my money. I will buy food, which I did. Regularly we had this exchange, where I'd buy him a pastry for breakfast and my windshield would be cleaned.
Some weeks, I wouldn't see him. After one such absence I struck up a conversation with him and asked where he'd been. He'd been ill and hospitalized. I could see it, he looked terrible. Most mornings after our transaction of sorts I would ponder how he got into this situation and how would he ever get out of it. It was obvious he didn't mind working for his money instead of straight begging at least he was cleaning windshields.
So, I asked him. He explained to me that he had been a cable TV installer and had been out at a party in South Central Los Angeles and had gotten busted for DUI. DUI laws are very strong now and he lost his license for 6 months, that meant he couldn't drive the cable TV van. There went his job. He said his girlfriend dumped him and he lost his apartment quickly after that. It spiraled from there and he ended up contracting HIV. A sad tale but easy to see it happening to anyone really. One bad choice and your life turns to shit.
Several weeks after our bonding experience he disappeared. He had been looking quite gaunt and I suspected the worse. I've never seen him since. Sometimes when I approach the 7-11 I wonder....
Showing posts with label 7-11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7-11. Show all posts
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
It Really Must Be Bad When.....
Everyone says the economy is bad. The pundits can talk of nothing other than the jobless rate, the price of gas, the price of food on the rise, the demise of so many banking institutions, the mortgage crisis and on and on the bad news goes. You hear about these things, talk to people you know about their issues and you know that it is not good. But how bad is it?
The other morning I walked into my local 7-11, I have three of them that surround me and I frequent them all and pretty much know the main staff by name. I went to purchase lottery tickets because, hey, winning the lottery would solve all my problems, right? So in I walk to the 7-11 on the corner of Whitworth and Fairfax bright and early Sunday morning. Kahn, the regular guy who is always there, is snoozing in the corner and there is no one in the store. How odd. No one in a 7-11? I say "hi" to Kahn and wake him up. We chat, I get my lottery tickets and I ask him what's up with the empty store. He said for the last 3 months that business has been really down. Not as many customers and the customers he does have are not buying as much. We had a great talk about the impending election and how that might affect his livelihood and I left enlightened and thoughtful.
This morning I stopped at the 7-11 on Hauser and San Vicente. I wanted to speak with my Burmese friend. I don't come by as much anymore and he asks why. I tell him I'm trying to save money. He says me and everyone else. I tell him about Kahn and his plight and he says that their store is the same way. It must be true because when I pulled into the lot at 7am on a Wednesday morning I had my pick of parking spaces. About 6 months ago if I pulled into the lot on a weekday morning I'd have to wait for a spot. Things must be bad if 7-11 is suffering. Do you remember Reagan's trickle down economics? Well this is Bush's trickle down effect. Nice, eh?
Oh by the way, the Burmese 7-11 proprietor works 10 hour shifts (all co-owners of course, same family), 7 days a week. Ouch. He also wants to marry me for my US immigration rights. It's nice to be needed isn't it?
The other morning I walked into my local 7-11, I have three of them that surround me and I frequent them all and pretty much know the main staff by name. I went to purchase lottery tickets because, hey, winning the lottery would solve all my problems, right? So in I walk to the 7-11 on the corner of Whitworth and Fairfax bright and early Sunday morning. Kahn, the regular guy who is always there, is snoozing in the corner and there is no one in the store. How odd. No one in a 7-11? I say "hi" to Kahn and wake him up. We chat, I get my lottery tickets and I ask him what's up with the empty store. He said for the last 3 months that business has been really down. Not as many customers and the customers he does have are not buying as much. We had a great talk about the impending election and how that might affect his livelihood and I left enlightened and thoughtful.
This morning I stopped at the 7-11 on Hauser and San Vicente. I wanted to speak with my Burmese friend. I don't come by as much anymore and he asks why. I tell him I'm trying to save money. He says me and everyone else. I tell him about Kahn and his plight and he says that their store is the same way. It must be true because when I pulled into the lot at 7am on a Wednesday morning I had my pick of parking spaces. About 6 months ago if I pulled into the lot on a weekday morning I'd have to wait for a spot. Things must be bad if 7-11 is suffering. Do you remember Reagan's trickle down economics? Well this is Bush's trickle down effect. Nice, eh?
Oh by the way, the Burmese 7-11 proprietor works 10 hour shifts (all co-owners of course, same family), 7 days a week. Ouch. He also wants to marry me for my US immigration rights. It's nice to be needed isn't it?
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