What a Day! – 6 June 2014

 

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6 June 2014

“Hi Chuck.”

“Hi! What a day I’ve had already. You already know how bad my week was. I did something really stupid yesterday. When I got home I set up my chair for charging,  positioned it next to an electrical outlet. I turned off the controller power and put the chair in drive. Then the phone rang. It was my friend, telling me that she didn’t have to work today, so we could meet at noon.

“I forgot all about  plugging the chair into the electrical outlet. I only noticed it this morning at five o’clock. I charged it for an hour before coming down here. I had a lot of things planned for today —  going to the bank to pay a few bills. I keep forgetting when the due dates are. If I’m a couple of days late they charge me a penalty. I also wanted to be able to stop for a pizza, but that would take me too far out of my way. I might run out of power.

“What I’m going to do is drive down two blocks where I’ll meet my friend. Then I’m going to wait for the bus that takes me closest to my apartment. It doesn’t come as often as some of the others, but it brings me right to the top of the hill, near my place. They’re doing all kinds of construction around there, which might mean closing off my street entirely. I don’t know what I’m going to do then. Anyway, I’ll go home, put some frozen chicken in the microwave to defrost. Then I’ll do a stir fry with some vegetables. I’d prefer the pizza or a hamburger from Harvey’s.

“I wish I could get a job handing out that free newspaper. The only problem is rain. I can’t allow my hand controls to get wet. I was hoping that they’d let me set up in the mall, between the main doors, near Sears. I asked Sears and they wouldn’t give me permission. There are other malls, but that one is the most convenient for me.”

I asked, “Have you ever thought about being a greeter at Walmart? From watching what they do, it seems to me that you’d be able to handle that.”

“That’s something I hadn’t thought of. There is one on my bus route. That would be perfect.

“I got so mad on the bus this morning. There was this bozo standing beside me, blocking my view of the driver. I asked him to please move, because I had to let the driver know to lower the ramp. I was polite about it. The guy said, ‘You can’t tell me where I can stand. I’ll stand anywhere I want.’  That got me boiling mad. I asked the guy, “Were you born ignorant, or did you have to practice being stupid.’ I don’t know if people just don’t think, or what their problem is, but if you see a wheelchair waiting at the bus stop, you don’t try to jump on as the ramp is coming down.

“I was thinking back ten years ago. That’s when I left my wife. I moved to an apartment building where a lot of natives lived. I was still drinking then. I met three of them down near the river, two women and a man. They were enjoying a beer. I’d gone there for the same reason. We got to talking, it started getting cold, so I said, “Let’s continue this party at my place. Well, the one woman never left. It was no problem moving her things from one floor to another. We were together about three years. She was Inuit. Her name was Kunik which means kiss. How could I resist a name like that? She was waiting for the bus in front of the mall. I’m not sure how it happened, whether she slipped on the ice, or if someone bumped her, but she fell in the path of a bus and was killed instantly. I tell you, I cried when I heard the news. She was such a gentle person.

“If she got riled though, she could be vicious. I remember she had a run in with an Apache guy in the building, originally from New Mexico. The names she called him. I couldn’t believe that she even knew some of the words she used to describe him. I’ve noticed that with some other groups. Blacks from the Caribbean often don’t get along with blacks from Africa. I guess there’s a lot of history that we don’t know.

“Well, they’re forecasting a nice weekend. Hot on Saturday and Sunday with rain on Monday. So, I don’t know when I’ll be here.”

I said, “It’s time for me to go to work. Enjoy your weekend, Chuck.”

“See you sometime next week, bud. Take care. “