When I wasn't working at a regular job last summer I would sing and play on the public right of way to make a little extra tax-free cash.
Now that I have a job, I still play outdoors, mostly at PSU, in the block between the library and Smith Center, when I need to escape the cube farm. I don't put out a hat.
Yesterday, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an old fellow with a scruffy beard and a skipper's cap shuffle to a bench about 10 feet behind me. I didn't give him much thought. Low income seniors live side by side with undergrads in that part of town.
I ran through some sea songs, and then turned around to check him out again. His right arm, bent at the elbow, extended toward me on the same plane as his shoulder. Between his right thumb and index finger, a twenty dollar bill dangled, pinched by the corner, the way one might hold a wet diaper or the tail of a dead rat.
"Please come and get this from me!" he said.
I hesitated, then asked, "What would you like me to do with it?"
He repeated his request, then added, "I want you to have this. I know you're not out hear asking for money for playing, but when God tells me to do something, I do it."
As I complied, I thanked him, and noticed tucked in his left hand, maybe a dozen more twenties, maybe from cashing an entitlement check
I thought, "I'm being tested here. He probably can't afford this."
Then I thought, "Who am I to countermand the Almighty?" I tucked the bill in my pocket, and went back to singing.
Taking orders from God. Isn't that what angels do?
Now that I have a job, I still play outdoors, mostly at PSU, in the block between the library and Smith Center, when I need to escape the cube farm. I don't put out a hat.
Yesterday, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an old fellow with a scruffy beard and a skipper's cap shuffle to a bench about 10 feet behind me. I didn't give him much thought. Low income seniors live side by side with undergrads in that part of town.
I ran through some sea songs, and then turned around to check him out again. His right arm, bent at the elbow, extended toward me on the same plane as his shoulder. Between his right thumb and index finger, a twenty dollar bill dangled, pinched by the corner, the way one might hold a wet diaper or the tail of a dead rat.
"Please come and get this from me!" he said.
I hesitated, then asked, "What would you like me to do with it?"
He repeated his request, then added, "I want you to have this. I know you're not out hear asking for money for playing, but when God tells me to do something, I do it."
As I complied, I thanked him, and noticed tucked in his left hand, maybe a dozen more twenties, maybe from cashing an entitlement check
I thought, "I'm being tested here. He probably can't afford this."
Then I thought, "Who am I to countermand the Almighty?" I tucked the bill in my pocket, and went back to singing.
Taking orders from God. Isn't that what angels do?
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i'll have to catch up on your older entries.
to rival the found trojan package: throwing used condoms onto the roof and having the rain wash them down onto the terrace right outside mom's bedroom. like 3 of 'em. now don't look at ME funny, it wasn't MY idea.