"You's People Too": Laundromat Adventures Part II

This happened a few weeks ago, but I'm just remembering it now. Again, set in the local Fluff-n-Fold, again, with a homeless or near-homeless man who approached me.

Now I'm not uppity, upper or middle or whatever class. And I'm not suffering from a superiority or inferiority complex, or what-have-you. Just callin' it like I see it. And here's the way I see it:

Ton's of people do suffer from feeling inferior. They spend their whole lives being sorry for who they are, what they are, and even eating, walking, and talking apologetically. Take my former M-i-L, Listless Landra.

Listless Landra had a good heart but a rat-bastard of a husband, my former F-i-L, Jerky Jerome. He was overbearing. He totally exploited her goodness to his end: the Almighty Buck. She had hopes, goals, dreams in life. When I met her -- mid 40's, I noticed that everyone treated her terribly, including my ex. Her shoulders were shrugged, she secretly ate chocolates and cupcakes and chips at all hours of the day and night. Getting fatter by the day, she started to lash out at all of us. Then, somewhere along the line, she was broken. She started to cover her mouth when she ate, like a teenager wearing braces. Only she didn't have braces... she just let life defeat her.

So back to our homeless (or nearly so) guy at the Fluff-n-Fold... he was polite to everyone, making conversation about the weather and sports and so on. Sometimes it breaks my heart that God chose to make some people smarter or more gifted than others. All of the missed and wasted opportunities and that they don't know Vivaldi's Four Seasons or have tasted shrimp cocktail and Champagne. Or that they haven't read John Grisham or Kurt Vonnegut, or they don't know who Coldplay or Train is. Perhaps, just perhaps, they may use grammar better than me. Grin.

I chatted briefly with this man as I put clothes in the wash. Listened to him make general conversation with others, and then walked the wet clothes over to the dryer. Apparently I was in his way, because he stood about 3 feet to the right of me. I looked up and said "Sorry." It makes me feel bad to inconvenience people. Even when I'm doing something I have to do.

The man gave me a "some-r" teeth smile and said "You's People Too..'

The Grace that he was capable of giving to me was more than I was capable of that day. And I'm the one who's been given all this other Grace and gifts and Mercy. Hardly deserving!

I've been wondering why, and wondering what to do about that. And it just occurred to me that it's my signal to get off my fat butt and do some good for my fellow man, rather than sit here and feel unworthy about it.

From the book Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman, a Native American tells this to the sheriff, about "white people" wearing and owning diamonds, or anything else of excess: "They collect these things to prove that they are better at being greedy than their friends." Ain't that the truth.

Kinda makes me want to live off the land, on a hillside in a grass hut.