So, this homeless dude walks across a road ....

First off! Scroll down for Blacktop Watch, and scroll even further down for a scintillating tale of a dear friend shivving me in the back!




I was running errands last night and had to stop at one of the longest red lights in town. (Four Corners, I'm lookin' at you!) I had all my windows rolled down because the AC in the Saturn conked out two years ago, and I was just sitting there, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the light to change.

There was an old man standing on the corner with a box of clothes in his arms and some type of medical braces on both feet. He started to slowly shuffle across the intersection, and I got a little worried, because it was obvious he wasn't going to make it across before the light changed, but I wasn't really paying all that much attention, to be honest.

"Oh, miss! Miss?"

He was standing right next to my car.

"Ma'am, I missed my bus. Are you heading across the bridge? Could you give me a ride?"

"Hop in", I said, hoping I wasn't about to get ax-murdered. But, I mean, it was broad daylight, the dude was old, and he could barely walk, for Pete's sake.

So, I gave him his ride, let him out, and went on my way.

And I just hope to Christ that it's not me some day, thirty years from now, standing on a corner with a box of clothes in my arms and braces on my feet, asking for rides from strangers.

I don't know what is going on with the world today, but that shit's just not right.