This actually happened, 15
minutes ago.
What a world.
No argument there.
I think I met an angel in disguise this morning,or maybe he was just a poor, crazy old guy.
I bumped into the old man digging thru the garbage at a Carl’s Jr this morning.
I asked him if he was hungry(brilliant, ain’t I?)offered to buy him breakfast and some coffee.
I felt magnanimous and I was in a good mood.
He held up a half wrapped, half eaten burger and said “I’m good”
I silently thanked God for my blessings and remembered how my life had derailed at one time and how close I am, any of us really are, to being destitute, desperate and displaced.
Closer than you know…
How the cards can fall…
How the dice land…
Black, red; odd or even…
I offered him $10 and he reached inside a dirty, stuffed pillow case, dug out $2, I guessed, and said “I’m good”.
Pride…? Relief?
Then out of “know” where he asked me, in a quizzical tone “Why do we need guns, anyways, 7,326 deaths last year?”
I swear to God that’s what he asked.
ME, being the type of person you all know me to be replied “To protect ourselves and our families”
Rational, sensical…PC
He thought for a second and said “Why do you suppose we have to protect ourselves?”
Good lord, he’s crazy…
Shame on me.
He shrugged at his own question, tied up his pillow, told me to go to hell and leave him alone and walked off with his bike.
I wasn’t mad or insulted by his parting adieu; I was thinking about what he’d said.
“Why do you suppose we have to protect ourselves?”
The only rationale my clever, informed brain could muster, pre-coffee?
Because, that’s just how it is, old man; that’s just how it fucking is.
Sucks ass…
Sad, ain’t it?
Now, I’m depressed.
Thanks for bringing me back to reality Mr. Homeless Philosopher.
I kinda hope you choke on your hamburger.
Shame on me.
Everything Hurts & I'm Dying 
In 2013 the number of homicides by firearms in Canada was 505.
Good one, Trey – such encounters on the streets are rare even if there are more homeless than one likes to think. But a good question from him and a good answer from you: God knows how it all unfolded so that we need to protect ourselves – a million and one reasons stuck together like glue…
It’s still in my head how weird it was…
I would be too but “I’m good” – got a good dose of “it” from your post, Trey 😀
Why do we need to protect ourselves ? We never used to have to in the United States I lived in during the 1930s,40s,50s and even 60s. Gangsters carried guns. The Police and other lawmen carried guns. Hunters used guns seasonally. Civilians did not carry guns as a daily rule. Then, the guys who liked to play the games of who was King of the hill, who could piss farther, and who could shout louder arose….and we let them…..in all our innocence. And now we’re paying the price of narcissistic, egomanical behavior of those people, and most of them are not foreigners. Take a look around.
Preaching to the choir. I grew up in the South. Everybody has a gun(s) and we never ever feared someone blazing away at a school or gathering. Hell, we were too scared to tote a pocket knife to school. Reason? The punishment was always decisive and quick. We KNEW better. Not now
Part of the problem now is that those with the guns shooting up schools and theaters, etc. think THEY know better than we do. And where is the quick, decisive punishment for them?
It’s coming
Think you may have met Jesus – in disguise.