Crying Over Spilled Beer

“Don’t cry over spilled milk. It could have been beer.”~ Author Unknown

Last night, I traveled to Waco, Texas because #1- I can and #2- I was invited to attend a show there which headlined the band, P.O.D.

There will be a full blog post about my travels and experiences about that much later.

I wanted to focus on a group of people that I had the unfortunate displeasure to have crossed paths with.

Although as they say, when it becomes a thing of the past and you look upon it then you will just laugh and laugh and laugh.

I ain’t laughing yet….. that much!!!

As I was familiarizing myself with the venue, I had the sorrowful duty to attempt to manage to get myself around as best as I could while dealing with rather THICK carpeting.

I had turned the corner and hadn’t been talking, hadn’t bothered anyone, and I passed up a group of gentlemen.

Suddenly, my arm and chest and all the way down to my hip felt wet and very cold.

These “gentlemen” were a group of friends and were involved in a serious match of horse play when one of them spilled their beer all over me.

Now I realize that they didn’t simply just THROW it on me or DUMP it on me, nevertheless the guy’s glass was empty in a fraction of a second and I was dripping with the contents of that glass.

Suddenly their incessant giggling and immature shenanigans came to a most abrupt end and conclusion. So much so that they pretty much kept to themselves quiet the rest of the night…. even after I had moved.

I looked at my coat sleeve as it dripped of nasty and cheap beer from the forearm to the hand and down the fingers to one side of my lap.

Looking up slowly, I saw three or four faces frozen in shock and in horror. And best of all: fear.

I didn’t say a word. Not even a grunt or a peep. I turned away from them and kept moving on.

The rest of the night, the guilty party continually came up to me after it was all said and done, apologizing, begging for forgiveness, and apologizing some more. I continued to stay quiet. 

Here’s the inside scoop on this story and probably the REAL reason as to why they were so adamant about being sorry and letting me know about how sorry they were:

The photograph of the jacket is called a “BDU” in the military.

I was wearing one. My brother got one for me while he was serving in the Army.

I had my name across it. I had military patches and other insignia up and down the sleeves. It looks legit even though it is not. Because I am not a Colonel, nor enlisted in the United States Army. I do however, like the insignia and symbol of the rank of Colonel.

Eagles, anyone?

These guys convinced themselves without any help of anyone else of the outside world, that a beer had been spilled upon a member of this country’s military veterans.

The next thing I know, they were offering to buy me drinks the rest of the night. They were wanting to take me out to eat. They were willing to purchase expensive band merchandise. They even offered to bring me to the next big show and pay for my ticket. All of this, without my consent or approval.

I honestly believe that these people were fearing some kind of massive retribution on my behalf as a consequence for their immature actions. And they were attempted to mend the wrong with showering me with gifts, to ensure that retribution would not be received.

The sad part is that people are going to believe what they want to believe. It does not matter whether or not you attempt to right their mistakes, they will do and believe what they want. No matter how many times I tried to tell them to just drop it… they insisted. And no matter how many attempts that I gave to explain that I was not in the Army, and that it was just a jacket… they believed what they want.

Am I former military? NO.
Was it okay for them to have done what they did? NO.

So, there’s fault on both sides. And it appears that both sides were stuck with attempts to right the wrong in vain.

Chances are… I’ll never see these guys again. That’s just the way the world works. But I literally had these guys scared to death the entire rest of the night up until the time that I left the venue to return home.

This could be a lesson for people as well.

Of course I could have screamed and cursed and attempted to pick a fight with these guys. I would have been justified in doing so because of what had happened. But I think the best retaliation was to let them stew in their own individual minds about what they were doing and what they did do and what had happened, to punish themselves about it the rest of the night.

Are they thinking about it now-today? I doubt it. But they sure as hell thought about it last night.

Hungover On Halloween

“Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special. “~ Chris Rock

As Halloween 2012 comes to an end and I am sitting here in the dark and sharing text messages with a sexy Vulcan, I thought that I would pause from that and share the story that I was explaining to the rest of you.

It has been wonderful not having to deal with random strangers knocking on my door and begging for candy and treats. I’ve not had to deal with that for many years. Either I have lived on very private property where the practice of Trick-or-Treating was frowned upon or lived inside a gated community. It has worked to my advantage.

The point of this post is to tell the story of the last time that I did have someone knock on my door on Halloween.

They were not small children, they weren’t even teenagers. They were full grown adults dressed up in homemade costumes. And they were going door to door looking for beer.

The smell of the beer that they had already consumed was heavy. Some of them couldn’t even stand up on their own… they were that drunk!

I sent them away. And told them not to come back. BIG MISTAKE.

They did. But because they were so intoxicated, they made so much noise that I knew they were coming up the street. And so, I prepared for their return.

Let me set up the scene here. Halloween night in Kansas. Snow is already on the ground. It was around 12:30 AM. The air temperature was 25-30°F. And a thunderstorm was in the area. Actually it was approaching. But it was raining with a little bit of lightning and thunder.

I ran outside and waited in the dark, trying not to wake up the neighbors. The drunks had gone to the local grocery store which was on the other side of the fence from the property that I lived in, and bought a bunch of eggs to take their revenge.

Yep, they were there to throw eggs at my home. Two of them got a few off, but it did very little damage as the shattered eggs landed on bricks. Nothing that I personally had to worry about.

But what they did not realize was that as it began to rain softly in the brisk and cold night air, I was in the dark with a garden hose. And I hit them all with the water coming from the faucet that was on the side of the building through a garden hose that was laying across my patio area. It had been there already and so they didn’t realize it.

I soaked their drunk asses to the point of pure moistness.

They all ran off into the night, cursing me and threatening that they will come back to finish the job. But I was ready.

It was about 3:00 AM and half of the determined group had in fact, returned. I had put away the garden hose but had made some arrangements for company. The local police department.

Sure enough, the eggs began to hit my home, and I called the direct cell phone to the officer nearest me. Within a few minutes, the police officer came up on them in the dark and rain and night and got up right behind them before turning on his swirling lights and the siren.  Some of them were arrested for trespassing. Others were charged with damage to private property or intent to cause damage. The others who ran got away with it but I never heard from them ever again.

So yes, that was the very last time I had ANYONE knocking on my door on Halloween. I hope all of you who celebrated with Trick-or-Treating and attended parties were all safe tonight. And I also hope that you had a lot of fun.

Until the next time.

 

Prostitution

“Working in Hollywood does give one a certain expertise in the field of prostitution.”~ Jane Fonda

According to New World Encyclopedia, prostitution is described as sexual intercourse in exchange for remuneration. The legal status of prostitution varies in different countries, from punishable by death to complete legality. Prostitution has often been described as “the world’s oldest profession,” and there is evidence of prostitution occurring throughout history in all societies.

Pornography actors also could be included in this definition. However, they are paid for sex by the producers of the pornography and prostitutes are being paid for sex by their clients.

Here in the United States, it is commonly illegal throughout many of the states, with two states being the exception where it is legal. Can you guess which two? Nevada is one, yes. That was a no brainer!

The other state in which prostitution is legal, is Rhode Island. However, it is illegal to solicit on the streets and to own or run a brothel.

I was privy to some information yesterday. And I thought it was time for a little “exposure” if you will.

If you take what you know of prostitution based on television and movies, you would be way off. Prostitutes in today’s society are not always in high heels, short skirts, and gawdy amounts of make-up on painted on their faces.

By what was defined and described by New World Encyclopedia, there is a resident here who would actually fit the definition.

A woman in her mid-50’s has for a long time now, kept the company of strange and unfamiliar men in her apartment. Day and night these men are coming in to her apartment, staying for unholy amounts of time within her walls.

She has some kind of disability. My guess is that it is a mental disability. But it is also common knowledge that she is a former drug abuser and currently an alcoholic. 

She takes a variety of medicines and drugs for her psychosis, but then the problem is that she drinks on top of it. She’s never seen outside of her home until well after 3:00 PM. Mainly because she is doing her activities throughout the night and into the late morning hours, gets drunk, takes her medication and is nearly in a coma when she sleeps until mid-afternoon because she mixed alcohol with her prescription medicines. Most of us who live here usually go into complete shock if we see her out and about before the sun is going down.

Her neighbors are actually witnesses to her situation as they can hear her sexual activities through the walls.

At some point, she had found out that she had a communicable disease which was probably given to her through sex. The details of which are totally disgusting and yet she was telling many people about it. Mainly, an organization that helps women. They decided to help her out in her situation, and she screwed them all over in the end.

Most of us who had compassion and concern thought that she might stop and turn her life around and possibly stop drinking. But in fact, her situation went in the totally opposite direction because things got worse.

The neighbors that live next to her haven’t really “slept” in a long time. Or they resorted to sleeping in their living rooms because of the noise.

There is nothing in the apartment lease agreement about having sex in your own home, and there is nothing illegal about it either. Neither is there anything illegal about drinking in your own home. So there really isn’t anything that can be done about what she is doing. Once she is outside though, is a totally different story. And she is mentally capable of understanding the consequences of her actions in public.

So it is a struggle for her neighbors to actually gain that peaceful environment. As well as the other residents around here as she has gone to many people (myself included) and asked for $5, $10, even $20. The money lending came to an abrupt end when just three other residents realized that she was not using the money for the excuse she had given when she asked for the loan, but rather for beer and wine. When payday comes for everyone, it is no secret that she is off to the corner gas station to pick up some beer, and will continue to do so throughout the day, for several days, until her money is gone.

That just happens to be the very sad and unfortunate life of an alcoholic.

But once the others stopped giving her money, she resorted to prostitution. She became friends with another prostitute that always can be seen in the neighborhood here most Fridays, and usually towards the beginning of the month when many people who are receiving disability checks have been paid.

Now this woman does it on her own. Many men who are seen on the property have been let on to the property by her. They often are spotted with grocery bags containing several six packs of beer. And they leave empty handed. With the reports of the sex noises coming through the walls, its safe to say that she is exchanging her body for alcohol. Thus, a “prostitute”.

What scares the rest of us that live here is that once these people are on the property, they can go anywhere and do anything. And it really is a dangerous situation because people could be in complete danger for their lives because this woman, she honestly does not know who she is letting in. When she is done with her “company”, she never walks them off the property to make sure that they have left. For all she knows, they have left but the possibility is that they could be wandering around, looking for things to steal.

Instead, she stays inside of her apartment because she doesn’t want the other people to know what it is she is doing. But believe me, there’s nobody that lives here that doesn’t already know about it!

So then the information that I had received just the other day was actually no surprise to me at all. This woman has failed to pay her rent for the month of October and she knows it.

She thought that she could get away with it by putting in writing that she is “under financial hardship” because she had given some money to her sister to help pay for some medical expenses because her sister is actually quite ill.

I saw the letter– and I probably should not have.

And then in private conversation, when I brought up the subject of this woman’s “financial hardship”, I was to understand that she was actually presented to her face the letter of her eviction notice. But she was given until Monday, the 17th of October to have her rent paid OR tell staff when she would have the money for her rent, and that had to be by the end of next week, or she would receive the eviction notice and ultimately be removed.

Many people who receive eviction notices commonly appeal it and take it to court. A majority of them lose! But drinking and having sex is again- not illegal. Failure to pay rent, IS a violation of the lease agreement.

So many residents here, especially those who live near or next to her, have complained about the noises that go on in the middle of the night, but there really isn’t a lot that can be done about it, outside of calling the police. And usually by the time they show up, the noises have stopped.

Life in the big city.

Now, this woman has another two days to have that rent paid. Within a couple of hours of being threatened by this possible eviction, the activity of strangers on the property exploded!!! Many men have been spotted by other residents to be going in and out of her home for most of the day yesterday. It is with regret that we believe the money will be collected and she will have her rent money on Monday morning and life as we know it will continue.

In my own opinion, this woman does need a lot of help. It wouldn’t make me blink any more or any less if she was to end up in jail. Perhaps a long stint in jail would actually get her to sober up and she could possibly leave jail without the crutch of her alcohol dependency. But my opinion also agrees with the others that the men that she allows on to property are a serious risk and danger. I believe that I am fortunate enough that I do not live that close to her in proximity. But since this is a gated community, its close enough. Especially if these men have no clue how to exit the property after the office is closed and their “visit” is over simply because she has no regard for these men once they exit her front door.

There’s only a few of us who know about her failure to pay rent this month. I was surprised to hear that story come back to me by an unlikely resident. Nobody says it, but they all hope that she fails to pay it. And yet with the reports still being e-mailed to me and told to others about who and how many men have been on the property since that threat of eviction, kind of tells us that she’s gonna be living with us a little while longer. Nobody actually wishes her harm. They all just want her to STOP doing what she is doing because it is so dangerous. Not only for others, but for herself as well.

So much for complaining about boring weekends!!!

Rah, rah,.. blahhhhhh!

I recently attended a local hockey game. Needless to say, I did enjoy myself. Up until the part where I was accosted by a female.

Here is what went down. During one the intermissions, I went down to the nearest concession stand and bought a drink and some nachos. Expensive but what the heck, I don’t get out too much. So I was attempting to juggle my snack and my drink on my lap and navigate a wheelchair through crowds who are either drunk or not paying attention. Contrary to popular belief, I am a safe driver. No matter how many times I’ve received nicknames of speed in a wheelchair.

I get to the door to where I need to go and a cheerleader comes up to me and gets in my way. She proceeds to turn the knob up to 11 with her charm and flirtation by asking, “Aww, did you buy those for me, sweetie?”.

What the hell…

First of all, I’m having enough trouble trying not to spill anything. Plus I had about another 40 feet and one elevator ride full of people to go. And this cheerleader just jumps in front of me to the point where I had to some how, slow myself down, not spill anything, and then not run into her or anybody else.

Secondly, “sweetie”? Excuse me, but I don’t waking up with you next to me this morning.

As attractive as this girl was, it was ME who was being offended by vocabulary and terminology where it could have been defined as sexual harrassment.

Terms of endearment are in this day and age, slathered in people’s every day conversation like mayonnaise in a sandwich for a 400 lb. man.

I know several women who use terms of endearment when they speak to me. And I don’t mind that too much at all. Waitresses do it all of the time. But they are not paid very well and yes, they are trying to earn themselves a higher tip.

But what profitable gain do cheerleaders receive to do it? None!!

I was once told that cheerleaders appear to be snobs because they get hit on all of the time. Plus in my personal experience of being around cheerleaders, to be one, it was all part of a popularity contest.

Think about that though for a moment, “Cheerleaders appear to be snobs because they get hit on all of the time.” Hmm, trying to rationalize that to where the cheerleader doesn’t look or appear to be so negative gives me about as much indigestion as those nachos did from the other night.

This cheerleader came up and attempted her charms on me and it did not work well at all. We’ll call it a FAIL. I looked at her. Smiled graciously. And responded back with, “If I gave you some of these nachos, then I’d have to share with the rest of the crowd. And there’s thousands of fans here, and I don’t have that kind of money.”

Cheerleaders get hit on because at sporting events, beer is sold. Man drinks beer. Man gets drunk. Man sees woman, and loses his dignity, self-control, and hits on them. But cheerleaders also get hit on, because they fire the first bullet of flirtation, which causes a man to suddenly enter into this realm thinking that its okay to fire back. So when the man gets spurned, cheerleaders suddenly equal… BITCH.

They used to be there in order to get the crowd all excited so that they make noise in support of their team. But nowadays, they are exciting people in other ways but there is no real support for the team that makes it worth the teams participating in their event. And from what was exposed that I could see on most of them the other night, they could honestly use a few rounds of nachos. GO TEAM!!!!!