Easter Week Chaos

“If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.”~ Frank Lane

I am greatly considering either writing a book, or starting a brand new blog when it comes to the great people and experiences here at the SGC.

Allow me to present to you the events over the past 24 hours.

It is late March. Tis the season. Texas went through a lot of rain overnight and into this morning and early afternoon. However the insanity started to break when our beloved meteorologists were warning that “storms could be severe.”

Texas translation? MILK AND BREAD! MILK AND BREAD!! AND BATTERIES!!!

The corner gas station was completely wiped out of the items.

On this day in 2014. Just saying Texas likes to be stormy on this day.

So it rained and rained. There was thunder. There was lightning. And there was a promising look of local flooding. But it all subsided. In the end, store owners got richer and the area got some much needed rain to help with the drought.

When the sun came up this morning and it was time to get that all important cup of coffee, I suddenly realizing that I had walked into a room full of outspoken and loud obscenities.

F bombs were flying!! “Fuck this and fuck that. Fucking fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” And when you are trying to wake up and having a hard time making sense of the day, being bombarded with profanities isn’t the best way of going at it.

It would have been easier to handle, if there was a point to it. But the guy just couldn’t stop swearing. He was just rambling on about various things. And then he finally stood up and left.

The neighbors have labelled him as “the insane one.” From people who know him however, apparently he is highly intelligent. So there you have it.

The chaos train had started rolling at full speed.

Today was our special Easter dinner event. It was a catered event from a seafood restaurant and only a few select people could attend. There was a sign up sheet that the residents had to sign in order to be able to take part. If you were not the list, you were not offered any food. Easy enough to understand.

There was supposed to an Easter egg hunt, but due to the fact that at 11:30 AM looked like 10:00 PM and the rain was pouring down, that was cancelled.

In an effort to avoid bodies bumping into everything while trying to get in line to get food, they decided to go to the sign up sheet and call people’s name one at a time. Your name was called and you got your food. Once you were handed your food and you walked away, the next person was called.

It was a process that I felt worked out very well.

And the guy who had the potty mouth this morning?

His name was not called. His name was not written on the sign up sheet that the social worker had in her hands. And so, without his name being on the list, he was refused being served food.

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED NEXT???

Round Two. Screaming and wailing. Minus the profanity for whatever reason.

Our resident who had coordinated the event with staff was trying to talk to him to tell him that she had his name on the list and that he can go ahead and get something to eat. But in his blinding rage, he did not hear her. And so instead of having that saving grace that he was in fact included on the list, he stormed his way out of the building and into the pouring rain with bitterness in his heart. Even though the coordinating resident was trying to get in a word over the shouting. She simply was overpowered.

Apparently what unfortunately had happened was that the resident attempted to e-mail the social worker last night to add him to the list. But the social worker never received the e-mail.

He was gone before the resident could resolve the problem.

Being that I was sitting at the same table as the coordinator, I heard the conversation between her and the social worker when they both realized what the problem was. And there was not anything they could do about it because technology had failed.

I can believe it as I was without Internet for several hours last night. So the e-mail probably was never sent.

Food however WAS set aside to be given to him after the fact. I do not know what happened when they went to deliver it to him at his home.

The other residents began their buzzing. One guy even came up to the coordinator and decided that he was going to put the full blame upon the shoulders of the social worker. He stated that the social worker handled it extremely poorly and it should have never went down the way that it did. And there were others that were just as willing to chastise and point fingers.

I realized at that moment that the craziness of living here would NEVER go away!! I understand that there are over 60 people who call this place home, and that means there’s probably going to be over 60 different opinions.

The fighting and the minutiae will forever be present here at SGC. And that’s why I wonder if I should start writing more and more about the events that go on here because it has to be wildly entertaining for some of you!!!

And finally to bring this tale to an end, the social worker decided that she was going to just hand out plastic Easter eggs to those who were in attendance because there would be no Easter egg hunt.

Inside of each egg were treats. Basically bite size pieces of chocolate and quarters. I stopped in the social worker’s office to say “good morning” to her early last week when she was putting them together.

Each person got several eggs. Most of which contained one piece of candy and one quarter. I believe the intention was to give out enough eggs that there would be enough money to use for the laundry machines. At least to wash your laundry.

I sat there at the table and I was making jokes about the social worker looking like the Easter bunny. But it went terribly, terribly wrong!!

It was probably the biggest faux pas I had made in over a year.

Instead of saying “She looks like the Easter bunny handing out treats.” I said, “She looks like the Playboy bunny handing out treats.”

It was met with dead silence until I realized the error and quickly corrected myself for it.

I swear I thought I was next to be crucified for it.

After I survived that scare, the social worker came back around a few minutes later asking for the emptied plastic eggs. They wanted to be able to keep them and use them in years to come.

A majority of the eggs contained Hershey’s Kisses. Not all, but most of them.

In a moment of quick thinking, when the social worker came around to collect the eggs from our table I said, “Thank you for the kisses!!”

The social worker busted out laughing so hard that she bent in half. And in the next moment the entire building was laughing as hard as they could.

I probably saved myself from certain social and personal destruction after the “bunny” comment.

I am not sure what “holiday” will be served up next here. If I had to guess, it could be Memorial Day or Independence Day.

And as always…. stay tuned!!!

Competitive Eating

First things first, congratulations to the official release of “Last Goodbye” by BEAUTIFUL DISTURBANCE.

Having to wait until midnight for their acoustic music video was not so much the challenge, it was keeping my eyes for having tears again.

But its great music and its out now, so if you wanna know what I’ve been blubbering about, check it out:

So  on with the show now that the excitement is starting to calm down for the night.

COMPETITIVE EATING.

I have no idea why this came up to be a big thing with me as of lately, but one thing led to another I suppose.

I think that we’ve all heard or read stories on the news about how this contest was won by this person or how much this person ate and this record being broken. All done by competitive eaters.

For whatever reason, I’ve always been fascinated by this phenomenon. Because I don’t really know if I should call it a sport or a hobby or whatever.

I think though that for the people who do it, they would have to love food more than the average person. They would have to know so much about food and cooking to be able to be a better competitor.

I recall recently within the past few years a television program called “Man Vs. Food” and most of us may have heard about or have seen it. I kept thinking to myself even then… that I could do what he was doing. And to think that I could get PAID.

Until there was one episode where he was in different places that were local. Then he went to JUAN IN A MILLION. He took on the DON JUAN TACO CHALLENGE. Basically, he ate as many of the giant breakfast tacos that he could that was just stuffed and crammed full of potatoes and tortillas. And not a lot of anything else. I believe the record was seven. The host didn’t even come close!

And I thought that this was just a taco. Albeit huge. It was just a taco. I thought that for the longest time.

And then months later, my sister took me to JUAN IN A MILLION for a belated birthday lunch out. And that’s where I ordered TWO. Which I thought was a smart “test” being that it was only one-quarter of a goal to mark a new record.

I could barely finish 1¼ of a taco.

Sucker, that I was.

But I have pulled off other eating feats. I did swallow 62 Chicken McNuggets in an untimed and had no limits or rules. But I chunked down that many in approximately an hour and only ONE medium size drink. Give or take.

Never again. I didn’t touch another chicken nugget of any kind for two years after that. And now in 2014, my sister thinks I’m insane for ordering twenty.

A lot of people believe that the idea of competitive eating is a waste of food as well as unhealthy for the body.

So I don’t think that my career path is in this kind of eating. I’m actually an extremely picky eater to the point where people call me a bitch. Whatever!

It still fascinates me though. So I don’t mind watching the videos on the Internet.

 

Tim’s Place

Tim Harris

“If you can dream it, you can do it”!~Walt Disney

Here is Tim Harris, from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Tim is a businessman and a restaurant owner in his late 20’s…… who just also happens to have Down’s Syndrome.

His restaurant promises to serve to its customers Breakfast•Lunch•Hugs.

http://www.amazingoasis.org/2013/12/restaurant-owner-with-down-syndrome.html

I heard about this fine young man through the magic of the POSITIVE side of Facebook. Which is still rare in my opinion!!

Thank you Carrie-Lee of “Cape Cod Cookie” for your post.

I love this guy and his story. His family surrounds him with love. And Mr. Tim Harris surrounds his customers, new and the regulars,  with love and hugs and apparently amazingly good food. This is exactly the positive, heart-warming story that needs to be spread around the world so many times. 

For me, its a personal victory. Its another middle finger to the world who dares to keep people with disabilities down. Don’t EVER count us down, because we will prove you wrong and put you to shame.

I wish nothing but success to Mr. Tim Harris.  And if ever I am in the area, I am going to go there. Both for the hugs and the food.

http://timsplaceabq.com/location

Mother Steals; Then Receives

“Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”~ Saint Augustine

So here’s a story for you about a lot of things. Charity being one of them.

In Florida, Jessica Robles realized that she had no food in the house to feed herself or her small children. Her boyfriend just lost his job, and due to some kind of error, she had been receiving food assistance but had lost it because of the glitch.

What does Jessica do in her time of absolute desperation? She went to the local grocery store and filled her grocery cart with about $300 of groceries and attempted to simply walk out without paying for it.

But she did not get away with it. Seasoned Miami-Dade police officer Vicki Thomas busted Jessica for shoplifting.

And this is where the tale turns into an unusual twist. Instead of taking Jessica to jail, Vicki went inside the grocery store and with HER OWN MONEY, purchased $100 worth of groceries.

When Vicki asked Jessica why she had committed the crime, the answer unsettled Vicki to her core: “My children are hungry.”

Apparently, Jessica did not have any history of habitual shoplifting. Instead of going to jail and allowing the children to go on being hungry, she was given a misdemeanor and told to show up in court. And then received the $100 in groceries. The officer making Jessica promise that once she was able to get back on her feet that she give the  same kind of help to someone else that she received.

And that’s where the bulk of the story splits off into differently wild directions. None of which I can track and verify to be the truth. But everything up to this point, is the truth.

Speculation suggests that when the news of this heart-warming story of charity by the law officer was spread around, that people donated to help out Jessica. And from that general donation, she received an additional $700 in groceries. Another story claims that she was picked up for an interview based on this wild crime story, and ended up landing a job in customer service.

As much as this story is loving and gives people the gooey inside feeling of warmth. I look at this situation and feel for Jessica. However, stealing/shoplifting would probably not be the direction that I would go in, in order to feed my children. But I do not know exactly her situation. Perhaps she did try other things to keep afloat and it fell apart or whatever.

And should the other stories be true about how the community came together to help her out and gave her so many groceries…. I hope that for her own sake and for the sake of her children, that she does the right thing and fights her way to get back on her feet, rather than hope that someone will bail her out again when all that goes away. However, as I stated, I do not know if the uber-generosity story is true or not.

http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21012009392020/cop-helps-admitted-shoplifter-with-groceries/
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/10/22/miami_dade_officer_b.html

Jodi Ambrose Hates My Stomach

YOU WILL BECOME HUNGRY!! EAT! EAT! EAT!!

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”~ George Bernard Shaw

Anyone with working memory knows that in the last thirteen months, I’ve become such an admirer of blogger Jodi Ambrose. Mainly because of what she’s got to say about relationships and men and women and most importantly of all, sex.

WOO!! BROWN-CHICKEN-BROWN-COW!!!!

But seriously I am starting to become convinced that  she’s been out to kill me and my stomach. Its not enough that her books work on the brain and the heart, she wants the stomach now too????

Not only has she written books on sex and relationships between men and women and what they need to know about one another, but she along with her husband collaborated on a recipe book. Of which I have a copy of. Nicely autographed with a tip to get to a woman’s heart via her stomach.

All niceness aside though, Jodi has been out to destroy me one blog post at a time.

UGH!! STOP THE MADNESS!!!

What is she doing? I’ll tell you.

Food posts. Yummy, gooey, delicious food posts. Food that will totally knock your socks off. Taste so good it makes you wanna slap your mother.

HUNGRY YET?????

And whether it comes from her own collection or something she’s found written by somebody else, she shares it with her blog and kills me every stinkin’ time.

The timing of these blog posts being posted is impeccably unbearable. Because its early evening when Americans are USUALLY sitting down to eat in the first place!!! I still wonder if this is a conspiracy to persuade her readers to cook whatever she’s offering.

And no matter what it is, whether it is Key Lime pie or Steak or just a basket of fricking bran muffins, I’m ALWAYS near that point of thinking that I might be hungry. But when I read those posts……… Game Over.

Damnit!

Okay then, so all kidding aside, Jodi should know by now how much I love her and her insight and her sass mouth. I get a twitch and a shiver every time I hear her swear, and hearing her say “fuck” (it happened only once)….. ohh forget it!!

But she has been one helpful little elf in a lot of things in the past thirteen months. I try as hard to tell her whenever that happens. Sometimes I mess that up though. I AM male after all.

But being an Ambrose Nut is not so bad after all. Jodi is beauty and brains. People who are suffering in relationships and marriages would be wise to listen to her. She’ll slap the back of your head with a sensibility that will make you think “Ohh yeah, right. Duh!!” over and over again. 

Now to figure out where to ship her tiara and complete the initiation process.

Her blog is in the list of links in the Blog Roll. Have fun!!!!!

Now if she would only leave my stomach alone.

Downsizing My Joy

“I remember, my mom didn’t have any help, so if she needed to be somewhere after school, we’d just go down to the neighbors’ and she’d give us a snack and make sure we did our homework. There weren’t any latchkey kids.” ~ Jennifer Garner

It has been tough lately for me. Things went wrong and now I’m stuck in suffering to try and make it through from day to day.

However last Friday, a friend and colleague had come to my rescue without even realizing it. She had gone to buy groceries and actually kept me in mind.

She probably didn’t spend more than $10 on food, but it wasn’t about how much money, but rather the compassionate heart that she had for me and came for me in my unknowing time of need.

Included in the bounty of food were two boxes of Little Debbie Snack cakes. She bought me Honey Buns. At the printed on package price of $1.79 … it was probably the most expensive item that she bought.

But it got me thinking about the decline of Little Debbie products. Two boxes had to be bought in order to have a full dozen.

As a child, I remember seeing Little Debbie snacks and back then one box would actually contain a full dozen, or at the very least have ten in a box.

What in the world is going on? Why of all reasons did they reduce the total amount of products in a box?

I understand that times have changed since I was a kid. I mean after all, a full dozen of some snack was selling for only 99¢ and now they are selling for just under two dollars.

But why jump the price and REDUCE the quantity?

I’d love to go over to Little Debbie HQ and let them have it!! Honestly, I would.

Anyone else annoyed by this or am I just rambling on a Sunday afternoon… knowing that I must do whatever it takes to make it to the end of the week??

 

Breastaurants

This is a new one on me.

Never would I have made the connection to the pun.

For those of you who are like me and never knew, a “breastaurant” is a restaurant that has sexual undertones, most commonly in the form of large-breasted, skimpily dressed waitresses and barmaids.

I think the most famous and well-known example would be Hooters. But now there’s more competition in this market with the establishing of places such as Twin Peaks, Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill, Heart Attack Grill, Mugs and Jugs, and Tilted Kilts. All of them with skimpy dressed female staff members.

Hooters came along in the 1980’s. Just about anyone who has ever gone outside of their home has heard of Hooters. But now there seems to be a new challenge as Hooters is losing their grip on their reign over the category of top breastaurant. The overall sales for Hooters are slipping fast and several dozen restaurant locations have been closed across the United States.

It gives the perfect opportunity for its competition to come in and take the crown, so to speak.

Quite honestly, I thought that Twin Peaks was a gentleman’s club. But they’ve adapted their audience to include women and they even have a children’s menu. I guess I was way off!!

I know that there is a Bikinis less than a mile from my home. But I’ve not braved the journey to go inside. 

These kinds of places on average sell a meal to one customer at $12/person. But consumers are spending much more at an average of about $20 per person. These places can say what they want about their fine service and great food, but everybody knows why these kinds of places exist.

I have been to a Hooters. It was my one and last time going there! I entered the location in Wichita, Kansas as I was traveling through. Sufficed to say that I will never willingly step foot into another Hooters.

Burned food, watered down soft drinks, music so loud you could not hear yourself think, and outrageous prices. And even though every waitress in there was rather busty and large-breasted, they had the worst people skills I had ever seen!!

Most of the waitresses only had the vision of ample bosoms because they twisted their t-shirts so freakin’ tight in a knot in the front by their stomachs that it probably was cutting off circulation.

This location was known that the waitresses were more than happy to take photographs with you….. as long as you brought your own camera. But when a friend asked them for a picture, they all snarled with contempt. They gathered together but there were no smiles. Just a bunch of girls leaning forward to show off what their mothers had given them, that or their plastic surgeon. And just as the flash went off, they scurried away like cockroaches who just been exposed to a light source. Needless to say I tore the photograph of me with the waitresses into shreds.

So yeah, I have no desire to go to any other Hooters any where else in the world.

Yet in the current economy, Hooters seems to be slipping and other breastaurant chains seem to be gaining. So the power struggle to stay on top is definitely in full swing.

Pardon each and every pun in this post. Both intentional and accidental.

 

Nom, Nom, Nom Nonsense

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”~ George Harrison 

The story that I am about to tell here is 100% true. This is going to go down as the funniest moment in the month of July 2012 where I live.

On the last Wednesday of the month, we celebrate in a collective spirit all of those neighbors who celebrate a birthday in that particular month.

Luckily our glorious new social worker found a company or a business who actually will make a cake for us and then donate it to our monthly gathering of people.

This cake was chocolate, with a mint green color butter creme frosting.

But there was some left over.

This afternoon, it was set out for anyone to enjoy. I noticed it sitting there and I thought that I was going to grab a piece of this cake for someone. Obviously staff wasn’t wanting any leftovers and so it was, what I call “free range”. Any and every man for themselves!!

As I sat down with my piece of cake, I began to feel a little tired from out of nowhere. So I poured a cup of coffee. But by the time I had finished my cake and coffee and was ready to rinse out the cup in the kitchen, I did notice that there were at least three cut pieces of cake left.

I rolled on into the kitchen and rinsed out the coffee cup and put it away. Then I came back out.

One of the neighbors who was there in the community room already was standing by the cake box. I moved around her only to see both of her hands digging in. No fork, no serving knife– her very own hands!!

This woman was going in fist after fist of chocolate cake and literally taking “nom, nom, nom” to a whole new level.

The only thing that I could think of was the fact that there might not be a piece of cake left for me to take to someone else. So I asked her what in the world was she doing.

She backed up and smiled and laughed maniacally. When she turned and faced me, she literally had that mint green frosting and bits and crumbs of chocolate cake on all ten of her fingers. The frosting and cake was also spotted in a perfect ring around her mouth, that went up her nose and along one side of her face.

I then made the comment “You look like a seven year old celebrating a birthday!”, I was actually horrified.

Someone who was on the other side of the room shouted back “She IS celebrating a birthday this month!!”, and I wondered where that had come from.

Then she walked away and went into the women’s restroom. Frosting just oozing and dripping from her fingers and falling onto the floor. It left a nice messy trail.

I laughed for a bit, thinking that this was all silly. But I stopped laughing when I saw what she had done with the remaining three pieces of cake.

There was only left what looked like discarded frosting in clumps all along the bottom of the cake box. And one piece of cake that looked like it had been smashed and stepped on.

Given into account that this woman is in her mid to upper 60’s, I wondered if delirium had set in. A seven year old though would have done less damage similar to this. I probably should have said three.

I’ve yet to determine my feelings on this. I don’t know whether to be upset that she would do such a thing at her age OR just kind of laugh it off knowing that she is “getting up there” and what not. But I think either way, I’d be making an excuse.

I shared this story with someone else over the telephone earlier this evening and the laughed until they could no longer breathe and eventually that caused them to have to go get their portable oxygen tank and put it on so that they could restore their breathing.

Oops.

But for you dear followers, I had to share for you on this Friday for one heck of a laugh for yourself.

This place that I live in, is insane. And I’ll continue to write about the misadventures. Stay tuned.

 

Wet And Wild

“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”~ Anthony Robbins

Last night my apartment complex celebrated National Night Out. This is usually done in the month of August but because it is so hot at that time, we had changed it to October where the heat wouldn’t be so bad. There was a theme, which was something that we decided to do with the party. It was The Gift of Water. It is something that we haven’t had in a very long time in the form of rainfall. So I guess we were supposed to “appreciate” having water? I’m not sure.

The menu was even just as wet as the theme: Fish, cole slaw, hush puppies. And what to drink? But of course, bottled water.

A gathering of neighbors and friends outside in the warm but pleasant weather to socialize and visit. But I noticed that during the set up for the party that they had placed water guns on the tables. I wondered why they had suggested to bring a rain coat. But who in the world has a rain coat around here??

There they were though. These really cheap water guns that do not hold a lot of water and do not shoot water very well either. One would have to learn how each gun worked the best. Which angle to hold it, and how to shoot it to make it spray the water. I mean, we are talking C-H-E-A-P in every sense of the word!

I found mine working the best to aim it upward a little and then let the water come down on the target.

And still, the question in my mind was: Water guns for the elderly? Is this a good idea???? It would be interesting to see who was going to go nuts with it and who was going to complain.

Everybody was watching everybody else. And that was the problem. Those who participated in the water fights, were not being watched. As soon as you started to watch someone else who had a water gun, you got it from someone else who you were not looking for at the time. People really needed eyes in the back of their head.

I didn’t get into it right away, but I did take off with two different water guns. One of which didn’t work at all. But one I learned how to hold it and fire quickly.

After the fish dinner, they played several games of BINGO. In that, I did not participate. I disappeared back home and then came back with a loaded water gun and crept amongst the crowds, shooting unsuspecting people as they were focused on their “intense game”.

The apartment manager and the social worker got involved in these water games as well. There was a grandchild that was running around with one, and apparently he got involved with the apartment manager in a huge battle that everyone thought was cute.

But as soon as the apartment manager would be in my area, I FIRED!!!

One thing that I noticed amongst the other neighbors that got involved in the water fun, is that they did not fire unless fired upon. So once I shot at them is when they would fire back. Nobody seemed to want to be the first one to shoot. So I guess that I was the one that was the aggressor. And that was fine.

I would not fire when they were looking straight at me. I always waited until they were distracted and occupied with something else unrelated. But no matter what, whenever I got someone they aimed to get me back. And most of them did.

I even got the social worker as she was just standing there eating a piece of watermelon. She screamed and then looked around for another water gun. She found one and started to shoot it, but it was the same gun that I had found that would not shoot anything so she was stuck with nothing and I kept soaking her.

Then of course the “threats” coming from the apartment manager and the social worker that they will get me back. We’ll see about that I guess. When it was all said and done for the night, the apartment manager tried to get the song, “Feliz Navidad” stuck in my head. But it didn’t work. (The original version, not the Céline Dion cover.)

I still wonder who it is going to be that is going to complain about the childish behavior of everyone else because of the water guns. I wonder who is going to be that stick in the mud and whine that it is immature. Of course its immature, but it was there for us to let loose and have some fun.

You didn’t want to shoot your friends, because they would fire back thinking it was an act of betrayal. And you didn’t want to shoot those whom you have conflict with, because that would only make matters worse. Especially if they don’t have a sense of humor. Soo…… who do you fire a water gun at??

Damn the torpedoes!! I shot them all!!!

I would later come back home to reload but I would mix water with whiskey. And I made sure that the water was nice and warm. Then I went back out to war. One thought that was shooting them with piss. But I have a little more dignity and sense than that. They just freaked out because it was so warm. Something that they were not expecting.

But it was definitely a good time, even if there are those who are going to complain about it in the near future.

Water fights are uncommon in October. But who’s to say when you can and cannot have them? And you can bet your last dollar that I’ve kept my water gun. I will be making a few surprises with it in the coming weeks. I just got to find a way to clean the whiskey out of it.

Milk Madness

“Five enemies of peace inhabit with us – avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.”~ Petrarch

So its been a while since I have posted a story for you about our glorious goings-on at the food pantry. This one is a winner!!

Food pantry distribution happens here where I live once a month. (What I call “my time of the month”.) And it never seems to surprise me how the elderly neighbors can get so rowdy and ruthless over food that is in plentiful stock and the fact that everyone knows that nobody will go without.

The perk that I personally enjoy is that I am able to get in and get out and take whatever food I need first before anyone else goes in there, as I am there to make sure that everyone gets their food items in the best orderly fashion that is possible. That is all.

So I have volunteered my time to help out, calling numbers of apartments so that each person has a chance to go. There is not list of names, it doesn’t go one after the other.

Its like a lottery drawing. And we’ve been doing it this way for many, many months now. Nobody here should be a stranger to how it works.

Today’s surprise was that there was a nice selection of Strawberry flavored milk. One pint bottles. Not bad! It definitely has been a while since we’ve been given something like this.

Once the first few people were showing it off that they had it. So people were curious and interested.

But still, the avarice of these elderly people is amazing. There are a couple of people who give “problems”, but I am able to get a few steps ahead of them and deal with it. But this time, one of our esteemed neighbors had faked putting their slip of paper into the box and actually held on to it, and when I was ready to call numbers… this person attempted to get in FIRST. But when I had alerted the social worker that I had not called their number, they were refused. When their evil plan was ruined- they tried to use the excuse that they didn’t understand English.

It didn’t work.

When more and more people were coming in and out and talking about the strawberry milk, people were really getting out of control. Each person got ONE. Only ONE pint of the milk. The accusations began to fly over people getting two, three, even five of them. Which simply isn’t the case.

Others were apparently coming up with a plan to gain more than just the one that they were allowed and sharing their plans with others. Not exactly brilliant motives there.

Wouldn’t you know it.. an actual physical FIGHT broke out amongst three residents over strawberry flavored milk. People were throwing punches against their own neighbors. Mainly because those who were hearing about the plans to take more flavored milk than they would be given, were not liking the idea at all and believing that if these greedy people were successful then there would not be enough for the rest of them. And that, I would say is a safe assumption.

Three people get into it with arms and fists flying everywhere. It was chaos. Nobody could really tell who was doing the fighting, nobody could really tell who was trying to defend themselves, nothing. Everything was so unclear.

Needless to say that once this altercation had stopped, three people were pulled out and in the end sent home with NO food, and definitely NO strawberry milk. And two of them were pulled aside.

But at least I can say that nobody was physically hurt to the point where they were needing medical attention. Just a bunch of angry egos and greedy-minded plots that were exposed and ruined.

It seems as if each time this part of the month rolls around, there’s always something.

After the “Milk Madness”, I was eyewitness to two other people who were frustrated that their numbers were not being called. I pull the slips of paper out of the box and whatever is there, gets called. I believe that both of them just didn’t have the patience to wait any more. They had been waiting for over an hour. But today’s distribution took over TWO hours in total until we had the last person called in. It is a bit ironic to have gone that long because last month, everyone was taken care of in less than an hour. And it was about the same amount of people from last month compared to today.

These two people had such poor attitudes about it as well. I’ve seen people get up and leave for whatever reasons. But they were not complaining about the wait and how unfair things were. They waited as long as they could, until they could wait no longer and then they decide to leave. That’s just the way it is.

People who are 65 years of age and older, actually throwing punches over strawberry flavored milk. The elderly have no business getting into fights. Nobody’s health can take that kind of stress. Especially those who were involved in this today. Shouldn’t they know already that this kind of behavior could do something horrible to their bodies? I guess not.

Can you stand it???