continuation...
I'm sitting in a church basement on Morris Ave. (Concourse Village East) in the South Bronx. My friend whom I stay with here in the Bronx is having a birthday party for his daughter. My friend is 50 years old, his wife is 42 and their daughter is just turning 1. I can't stand his wife and she can't stand me though there is no reason for the anomosity. I am told she is just a cold fish, doesn't interact well with anyone. Whatever...
Their flat is large enough so that I rarely see her. There are 4 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and 2 full bathrooms and all he pays is 975 US! Still he struggles with it. They both work for the city but civil servants don't make all that much money. At one point he was given a part time job working with the School Custodians' Union. Head Custodians average 225,000 US a year and they control their schools. Principals must ask their permission to hold activities after regular activities. In fact that is where they met...
She had, at the time 11 years ago, 3 kids all under the age of 7. All were by different men, none of which was taking care of their responsibilities.
My friend had 2 young children himself, a girl who was 11 and a son who was 7, both by his ex-wife. His wife had dogged him out and he was living with his mother who helped him care for the children who he had custody of.
I warned my friend to go slow, but some people need to be in a relationship, which isn't something I can really understand. It is fine if it evolves naturally but...
About 2 months after they met my friend took his current flat. In fact I was the one who helped him move. The flat is on the top floor of a 6 floor walk-up, making the move difficult to say the least.
3 weeks after he moved into the flat she told him she could no longer bear living with her own mother and was going to move into a homeless shelter with her 2 kids, the third being raised by a relative. What would most men say if the woman they are sleeping with tells them something like that? Me? "Wow, that's a tough break. I think staying with your mother is a whole lot better then taking your kids into the shelter system but hey, of course it's your decision. Just be safe." Hahahahaha. Of course she expected...and got...my friend to offer her his home. "Just for a few weeks" said my good hearted friend. Haha again.
Anyway, if it works for him that is all that matters.
After a decade she got pregnant. One thing I CAN say is that the baby is adorable. Still, renting a church hall for a baby's first birthday party? You struggle with rent but spend 600 for a birthday party? I stupidly paid for it as my gift. Anyway I am spending almost 2 weeks in his flat so I can't REALLY complain.
Segueing back into my titled subject matter...One thing I will never get used to is umbrellas. I am just about 5 foot 8 in American terms, not a midget or a dwarf. Yet, each time it rains I get poked in the face by umbrellas. People are so fucken selfish. They not only don't think about what they are doing, they just don't give a shit. So I play the "Incredible Hulk." As I walk down the street I use my forearms and physically check the umbrella, BOOM, and stare meanly as it hits the owner in the head. I only do it IF the umbrella would have otherwise hit me in the face.
Another peeve? I purposely time my use of the subway to take it at its least used hours. I am not a fan of crowds, especially in the summer. Still, often when I enter a subway car people are sitting with their legs spread wide, bags on the seat and taking up 2 or 3 seats. I walk over, politely say excuse me, turn around, wait about 3 or 5 seconds and then I sit hard. I cannot count the number of times that I still manage to sit on some lazy gauche asshole's bag, or even their lap. At other times they angrily make the space and then when I sit they give me the nastiest looks, as if saying, "How dare you imagine you have a right to sit in 1 of the 3 seats I'm occupying!" Last week it happened again and the man was so pissed. Shaking his head he angrily got up and stood by the door. I took off my headphones, "Excuse me, did you by chance pay 3 fares?"
Him: (angrily) "What?!?"
Me: "Did you pay 3 fares when you got on this train?"
Him: "What are you, a fucken clown? Hell no I didn't pay no 3 fares motha fucka!"
Me: "Then what makes you think you can take up 3 seats and then shoot me dirty looks when I take the single seat I paid for?"
Him: "Motha fucka you better shut the fuck up, you don't know me."
Me: "Yeah, OK, killer. Thanks for the seat."
Him: "Motha fucken cracker must be out his motha fucken mind talkin' to me out the sidda' his mouth!"
To me, I don't care what a person says. It doesn't make me feel any emotion at all. I might as well be watching an infomercial for some inane bullshit, like the Flobee or Ginsu. I only pay attention to body language. I watch their abdomen, let the mouth does what it wants.
I will continue...
I'm sitting in a church basement on Morris Ave. (Concourse Village East) in the South Bronx. My friend whom I stay with here in the Bronx is having a birthday party for his daughter. My friend is 50 years old, his wife is 42 and their daughter is just turning 1. I can't stand his wife and she can't stand me though there is no reason for the anomosity. I am told she is just a cold fish, doesn't interact well with anyone. Whatever...
Their flat is large enough so that I rarely see her. There are 4 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and 2 full bathrooms and all he pays is 975 US! Still he struggles with it. They both work for the city but civil servants don't make all that much money. At one point he was given a part time job working with the School Custodians' Union. Head Custodians average 225,000 US a year and they control their schools. Principals must ask their permission to hold activities after regular activities. In fact that is where they met...
She had, at the time 11 years ago, 3 kids all under the age of 7. All were by different men, none of which was taking care of their responsibilities.
My friend had 2 young children himself, a girl who was 11 and a son who was 7, both by his ex-wife. His wife had dogged him out and he was living with his mother who helped him care for the children who he had custody of.
I warned my friend to go slow, but some people need to be in a relationship, which isn't something I can really understand. It is fine if it evolves naturally but...
About 2 months after they met my friend took his current flat. In fact I was the one who helped him move. The flat is on the top floor of a 6 floor walk-up, making the move difficult to say the least.
3 weeks after he moved into the flat she told him she could no longer bear living with her own mother and was going to move into a homeless shelter with her 2 kids, the third being raised by a relative. What would most men say if the woman they are sleeping with tells them something like that? Me? "Wow, that's a tough break. I think staying with your mother is a whole lot better then taking your kids into the shelter system but hey, of course it's your decision. Just be safe." Hahahahaha. Of course she expected...and got...my friend to offer her his home. "Just for a few weeks" said my good hearted friend. Haha again.
Anyway, if it works for him that is all that matters.
After a decade she got pregnant. One thing I CAN say is that the baby is adorable. Still, renting a church hall for a baby's first birthday party? You struggle with rent but spend 600 for a birthday party? I stupidly paid for it as my gift. Anyway I am spending almost 2 weeks in his flat so I can't REALLY complain.
Segueing back into my titled subject matter...One thing I will never get used to is umbrellas. I am just about 5 foot 8 in American terms, not a midget or a dwarf. Yet, each time it rains I get poked in the face by umbrellas. People are so fucken selfish. They not only don't think about what they are doing, they just don't give a shit. So I play the "Incredible Hulk." As I walk down the street I use my forearms and physically check the umbrella, BOOM, and stare meanly as it hits the owner in the head. I only do it IF the umbrella would have otherwise hit me in the face.
Another peeve? I purposely time my use of the subway to take it at its least used hours. I am not a fan of crowds, especially in the summer. Still, often when I enter a subway car people are sitting with their legs spread wide, bags on the seat and taking up 2 or 3 seats. I walk over, politely say excuse me, turn around, wait about 3 or 5 seconds and then I sit hard. I cannot count the number of times that I still manage to sit on some lazy gauche asshole's bag, or even their lap. At other times they angrily make the space and then when I sit they give me the nastiest looks, as if saying, "How dare you imagine you have a right to sit in 1 of the 3 seats I'm occupying!" Last week it happened again and the man was so pissed. Shaking his head he angrily got up and stood by the door. I took off my headphones, "Excuse me, did you by chance pay 3 fares?"
Him: (angrily) "What?!?"
Me: "Did you pay 3 fares when you got on this train?"
Him: "What are you, a fucken clown? Hell no I didn't pay no 3 fares motha fucka!"
Me: "Then what makes you think you can take up 3 seats and then shoot me dirty looks when I take the single seat I paid for?"
Him: "Motha fucka you better shut the fuck up, you don't know me."
Me: "Yeah, OK, killer. Thanks for the seat."
Him: "Motha fucken cracker must be out his motha fucken mind talkin' to me out the sidda' his mouth!"
To me, I don't care what a person says. It doesn't make me feel any emotion at all. I might as well be watching an infomercial for some inane bullshit, like the Flobee or Ginsu. I only pay attention to body language. I watch their abdomen, let the mouth does what it wants.
I will continue...
