You ever had one of those days where it felt kinda like a Twilight Zone episode? I had one recently.
I had taken a sandwich to work, planning to eat at my desk at lunch and get a few things done without being bothered. Of course, some things came up and I needed to run an errand. So, despite my plans to the contrary, it turns out that I’m leaving the office at lunch anyway. I eat and drive as I run my errands, and then, as I’m heading back to the office, I wind up stopped at a stop sign.
I saw her before I got to the intersection. So did the car in front of me. And the car in front of them. She finished talking to the car in front of me as I was approaching the intersection, and she walked out of the street back onto the sidewalk to the left.
I stopped at the stop sign, looked to the right, back to the left … and there she was at my window. Some sad story about wanting to get some money to buy food for her three kids — maybe it was four; more on that in a minute — in her car that’s over on 11th. She points the wrong way.
“I won’t give you any money, but I’ll get you some food. Be right back.”
So, I turn, realize that there’s a Burger King closer if I go the other way. So, I turn around and head towards the BK.
I forgot there’s also a McDonald’s right near the Burger King, and the McDonald’s is actually easier to get into and out of. So, I hit the drive-thru at the McDonald’s.
Couldn’t remember if it was three kids and four of them total, or if she said four kids. So, I order five McDoubles, five small fries, three bottles of milk, and two bottles of water.
I head back to the intersection where she was, and she’s nowhere to be found. So, I head towards 11th. She’s not there, and there’s no car with kids.
Okay, fine. I have five McDouble meals. Not a problem. Every time I stop for gas at the gas station across the street from the McDonald’s downtown (not the one I bought the burgers from), someone always approaches wanting money or a ride or something. So, I’ll just swing by there and find one of those people and give them some Mickey D’s. Only, for the first time in memory, there’s no bums hanging around.
Okay, there’s a few that hang around the downtown Burger King, so I head by there. None to be found.
Post Office. I often get accosted at the Post Office by someone claiming to be a veteran that served in some Army unit that never existed. So, I head to the Post Office. Nobody hanging around out front. There are even plenty of parking spaces. That never happens.
Ah. I know. The Synovus building. It’s over by the river, and there’s some homeless guy that sits on a bench overlooking the river walk and eats, sleeps, and does whatever else there, 24/7. So, off to the river. He’s not there.
It seems that all the homeless people took the day off. Here I am, stuck with five McDoubles, and now I’m starting to run late getting back to work.
The good news, I suppose, is that those people at work can eat. I mean, I’ve seen goats eat less.
I sorta wondered about all the homeless people. You see them all the time, but you never notice them. And now, here I am looking for them and I can’t find any. I’m still trying to figure out where they all went.
If you have any ideas, let me know. I’m curious as to what they’re up to.
