To day is dark, gray and cloudy Wednesday afternoon, today before my birthday once in my office dictating to my blog. They started out early as always, but I was a little excited because the office decided today to have my birthday meal. The office does this for everyone on or around their birthday they usually have a luncheon of some sort. Today I got the breakfast because tomorrow, my actual birthday, is a busy day very few staff would be around during lunch. Which is okay with me I don't have a problem with that as long as I get a meal somewhere along the line. Seriously is a nice gesture and today the meal was over at Denny's restaurant for South.
Actually, I really wasn't even aware that there was to be a birthday lunch until yesterday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave the Boston your head in the door and informed me lunch would be tomorrow. It seems, by the time my birthday rolls around, February 2. The state legislature is in full session in this office ramps up and is much busier than usual. On this February 2, not only is Legislature in session running full bore but the office is also having the Council" day at the legislature". On this day, all the staff at the office is up at the state legislature in capacity or another. May get so busy around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they had forgotten my birthday altogether. But they didn't.
The breakfast today, as indicated, was at Denny's. I think this is the second or third time we've done downtown Denny's for these kind of events. And actually, I sort of like Denny's food, the services okay and facilities are for relatively accessible. But the downtown Denny's is always a circus. The downtown Denny's is not far from the Salt Lake homeless shelter, Pioneer Park in the Trailways bus pickup point-so the crowd at the downtown Denny is always colorful. Typically, because I use public transit, they tend to be early at these events. This morning was cold and as I waited on the platform for for the train, I realized I could take the University Train which comes almost 10 min. before my regular train. That's what I did I hopped the Redline and was headed in bound, so I got to the restaurant by 7:30, a half hour before any other staff showed up.
Really, the place was a zoo, I ordered coffee and sat and watched the homeless folk outside and in side the restaurant—people shaking, talking to themselves and others who were not necessarily there. Since I was all bundled in my red coat I hit the bathroom to take my jacket off without offending anyone. Denny's at this time of day seems to cater to homeless, construction folk heading to work and inner city, county and state busers waiting for the next Trailways or big gray dog. Once I got the table reasonably occupied I headed to the bathroom, where I can take off my coat without offending anyone incase I show a little too much skin. I could not believe how rank the bathroom was or the fact there were two homeless folk doing their business, a full house, glad I did not have to use the facilities. One rumpled man started a conversation with anyone as he wrestled his clothes on, talking about he was going to jump the next bus out of town, he did not care what he had to do, and before I knew what I was doing I was agreeing with him, telling him that leaving Salt Lake City was the best decision he could make today. He got excited and I got excited and if I had dared grab his hand and if I could have jumped up and down we would have been yelling, and holding hands and jumping up and down in a circle, in the men's john at the downtown Denny's. I came to my senses and asked the homeless buser to open the door for me and grabbed my coat and headed back to the table. A few minute later I saw the Trailways bus pull into the parking lot and off load passengers, a couple of minutes later the homeless guy climbed onboard and by now is miles away heading for a new life, a better life then he could ever have here. I hope he makes it.
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