Say Hello

There's this guy that gets on the bus at the grocery store at the same time that I do each morning. He's a big guy but less than average height, maybe sixty with a pregnant belly that holds his t-shirt away from his body. He hides long stringy hair under a neon orange bonnie hat with feathers twist tied to the strap and always wears a bedazzled belt.

We talk a lot, usually about him. He wants to tell me about his family in South Carolina and what he use to do for a living. He worked for the park service doing trail maintenance but, since he had open heat surgery, he hasn't been working. He's at the in between: between homeless and a disability check. He'll be heading to Florida next week to couch surf with friends and family for the winter. Last winter he stayed in Fort Meyers Beach and highly recommends the Chapel by the Sea (free doctor, bed, food, and they'll pack you a lunch).

His ex girlfriend died last week in Kentucky. She'd had ovarian cancer for a long time and he's been stressed about it so he's started smoking again. He walked up to the bus stop this morning and had to sit down in order to catch his breath.

There are millions of people in the world and most of them just want to tell their story to someone. That's why I have a blog. We are all made up of this collection of short stories and they justify us. We want to explain to people why we are who we are and why we're not someone else.

There are some fascinating people out there, make it a point to have a random conversation this week.