This morning's feast of light began with peachy red blobs of sunlight catching fire to the western mountain tops. This early morning palette makes me think of paint color strips: peach melba, dawn gray, rising fog.
This evening treated me to a thick slice of red sunset pie along the horizon, squashed nearly flat by portentous, gun metal clouds.
In between, I went to get my oil changed and strolled over to Harris Teeter for coffee and a little breakfast something while I waited. A young woman, who I presume is homeless, came in for the same thing. She was dressed in Asheville style homeless garb - patterned leggings, athletic shoes, and layers of shirts, topped by an iconic, colorful afghan and a toboggan. She looked frozen half to death*. She piled her stuff down at the table in front of me and disappeared over toward the cashiers. She returned with a hand full of something which turned out to be about half of the day's supply of free cookies for kids. She proceeded to the coffee kiosk. There was no cream, so she opened the refrigerator, pulled out a case of creamers to fill the caddy, and began emptying about 20 creamers into a cup of coffee.
She showed not the slightest sign of stealth, nor did she attract anyone's attention. She acted exactly like a person who just we woke up and wandered sleepily into the kitchen for breakfast. I call this bold. I left before she finished hers.
What do you think of this person? What do I think? It was bitter cold last night, especially with the wind chill factor. She did not sleep in a warm bed. She slept outside someplace, hopefully out of the wind. Why did she do that? Not a clue. Do I have sympathy for her? Is she deserving of my sympathy? I find myself without a definitive answer. I long for more information, and I'm not exactly proud of that. Exactly how many nights must a human being sleep outside before qualifying for my sympathy? Should it happen to me, I would hope that one night would suffice, especially in winter. I don't know her story. Maybe she chooses to live on the street as so many people believe. Somehow, I just doubt it.
Then there's the matter of the free cookies for kids. If I had taken more than one or two, my mamma would have marched me right up to the manager to apologize and return the extra cookies. So taking more than a dozen offends me deeply. It just isn't nice. I'm only half way kidding.
I also wonder what is Harris Teeter's role in this? She was obviously not a first timer, but no one seemed to have her on the "take-her-down list". The cookies were not under lock and key. No children were going hungry because of her. So, are they just slack in the morning? Or are they willing to shoulder the cost burden of an entire package of sugar cookies each morning so this woman can eat breakfast? Could they possibly have more charity in their little corporate hearts than I have in mine as we fast-track approach Christmas?
Ultimately I guess, I just feel sorry about a person who sleeps outside on a winter night and has to bogart the kids' cookies for breakfast in a supermarket. Could be she is saving her money while going for her PhD. I don't know, but I wish her well whatever she is living. I'm just worried about why it is I'm more concerned about the cookies than about her.
*"frozen half to death" is a classic Southern expression. If you don' think this makes good grammatical sense, just skip on down to the next line.
This evening treated me to a thick slice of red sunset pie along the horizon, squashed nearly flat by portentous, gun metal clouds.
In between, I went to get my oil changed and strolled over to Harris Teeter for coffee and a little breakfast something while I waited. A young woman, who I presume is homeless, came in for the same thing. She was dressed in Asheville style homeless garb - patterned leggings, athletic shoes, and layers of shirts, topped by an iconic, colorful afghan and a toboggan. She looked frozen half to death*. She piled her stuff down at the table in front of me and disappeared over toward the cashiers. She returned with a hand full of something which turned out to be about half of the day's supply of free cookies for kids. She proceeded to the coffee kiosk. There was no cream, so she opened the refrigerator, pulled out a case of creamers to fill the caddy, and began emptying about 20 creamers into a cup of coffee.
She showed not the slightest sign of stealth, nor did she attract anyone's attention. She acted exactly like a person who just we woke up and wandered sleepily into the kitchen for breakfast. I call this bold. I left before she finished hers.
What do you think of this person? What do I think? It was bitter cold last night, especially with the wind chill factor. She did not sleep in a warm bed. She slept outside someplace, hopefully out of the wind. Why did she do that? Not a clue. Do I have sympathy for her? Is she deserving of my sympathy? I find myself without a definitive answer. I long for more information, and I'm not exactly proud of that. Exactly how many nights must a human being sleep outside before qualifying for my sympathy? Should it happen to me, I would hope that one night would suffice, especially in winter. I don't know her story. Maybe she chooses to live on the street as so many people believe. Somehow, I just doubt it.
Then there's the matter of the free cookies for kids. If I had taken more than one or two, my mamma would have marched me right up to the manager to apologize and return the extra cookies. So taking more than a dozen offends me deeply. It just isn't nice. I'm only half way kidding.
I also wonder what is Harris Teeter's role in this? She was obviously not a first timer, but no one seemed to have her on the "take-her-down list". The cookies were not under lock and key. No children were going hungry because of her. So, are they just slack in the morning? Or are they willing to shoulder the cost burden of an entire package of sugar cookies each morning so this woman can eat breakfast? Could they possibly have more charity in their little corporate hearts than I have in mine as we fast-track approach Christmas?
Ultimately I guess, I just feel sorry about a person who sleeps outside on a winter night and has to bogart the kids' cookies for breakfast in a supermarket. Could be she is saving her money while going for her PhD. I don't know, but I wish her well whatever she is living. I'm just worried about why it is I'm more concerned about the cookies than about her.
*"frozen half to death" is a classic Southern expression. If you don' think this makes good grammatical sense, just skip on down to the next line.
