Even Trade

Time is flying and I better hack something out before I run out of time. This, I have notices, is happening more and more. I don’t know if I am tiring of the blog or I am loosing control of my time. I feel I am still intrigued with my blog that I am still motivated to write everyday but I have not become neurotic on the “every day issue”. Hey I missed yesterday didn’t I? Maybe each entry does not have to be 500 words or more. The blog , the daily posting of at least 500 words have been good though. I am beginning to feel, for the first, time that I can sit down and write when ever I want bout the ideas I want. I have yet to push myself in the direction of writing 500 words of fiction a day. I think I could and will when I decide to do the fiction. So, I can justify the time I spend on my blog.

I took off at lunch today to do some “downtown” errands. You would think is a city the size of Salt Lake City there would be somewhere one could but a lunch at a fairly economical price and easily reachable in the 60 minutes one has for lunch. Aside for, a number of Mexican sidewalk taco stands, and a few restaurants there is not much to choose from. I would really love a real pizza place down town—a place where the sell pizza by the slice. There is a stand min one of the malls but that’s on the west side of State street and the pizza is too chain like. Am I asking for too much? So the only place on downtown path is a Carl jr.s and I hate going in there not ,because it’s a Carl Jr’s but because the restaurant is right in the Center of Downtown: The Cross Roads of the West. This means that this downtown section is also the cross roads of the poor and the homeless.

I breezed into the CJ’s and found the end of the line and decided I would try a couple of items off their new Mexican menu. I believe Mexican made with ground beef is always appealing. So, I got a couple of soft shell tacos and found aplace to eat. No sooner had I sat down that a homeless guy at down at the table beside me. He looked like someone from Prison Break. I know this is judgmental but it’s the mood I am in today. The homeless guy pulled out a paper cup and poured the contents of the cup on the table: loose change. Dirty loose change at that. I caught a napkin and some water and started washing the change reminding me of a raccoon about ready to eat. I was staring straight ahead, out the front window of CJ’s and I noticed him looking in my direction. He would worry his money for a bit then look up me wistfully then return to his coin collection. Once I noted the behavior I made sure I continued to stair straight ahead and under no circumstance engage. I don’t know I just did not want to be panhandled today. I felt a little mean in my thoughts and I guess I shall have to repent my ways but that was how I felt today.

The guy finally guy finally cleaned his coins as much as he could and poured the money back into his cup and shoved the cup into his pocket and walked out and sat in front of the building. Only then did I realize I could have got this guy’s image turning me into the hunter and he the prey. I got the camera and got a couple images. Then I got this idea. I think from now on I’ll keep some money for the select purpose of paying folks, who ask me for money, for their image. This should be an even trade.