Wacky Day

Me, if my grandma hadn't been there.

     It's been an interesting day. First of all, we took another practice test and chem and in the middle of the test this kid who never talks to anyone turned around and handed me three Tootsie rolls (our wonderful chem teacher had passed out candy before the test). I was super confused but I took them anyway because who can refuse Tootsie rolls? I think I made a new friend. Or he just really hates Tootsie rolls. Then tonight my grandma and I went downtown to go to a concert at the Maryland Theater and we parked in the visitor center parking lot and I got out to check if we had to pay the meter and saw that we didn't so I told my grandma, who was getting out of the car, and this guy came over and was like "You don't have to pay the meter this late" and I was like "Oh okay thank you" and turned my back around but he kept walking closer and repeated himself and I was like "Okay this is weird" and then he rolled up his sleeve and showed my grandma and me the inside of his arm which had all these little cuts over a tattoo and he was like "I used to cut myself but I don't anymore. I'm 17 and I'm homeless. Could you spare some change? I'm real hungry" and my grandma, being the no-nonsense woman that she is was like "There are lots of resources available for you. There's the shelter right down the street where you can get meals" and he was like "I know, I've been there but I'm only 17 and I'm homeless and I'm hungry." By now I was kind of itching to leave. This guy did not look 17, by the way. He looked like he was about 23. And I'm sizing him up thinking that in my two-inch sandals I'm as tall as him so if he pulls a gun on us like in that scene from Batman Begins when Batman's parents are coming out of the theater, I could totally take him. But my grandma is still talking and he's still talking and he's like "Look at me, I'm a big guy; I could be a drug dealer but I'm not I'm just hungry" and my grandma was like "I can't give you money but I can take you out to get some food after we're finished" and the guy was like "Just a penny...anything..." And my grandma was like "You know it's illegal to ask for money. That's called panhandling and it's illegal." That's when the guy was kind of like "Oh shoot I shouldn't have picked on this innocent old lady" and my grandma was like "I can call the cops to come and talk to you if you'd like." And then we kind of walked away and coincidentally a cop on a bicycle came pedaling into the parking lot and when we turned around the guy had disappeared. My grandma is such a smart woman. Someone tells you they're starving so you offer them food and they refuse? Well clearly they aren't hungry; they're just looking for money. Maybe that's not the nice thing to do, but I don't think shelling out money to strangers fixes anything. And my grandma is right; there are tons of resources available, especially for minors (if he is in fact a minor). So today I learned how to deal with homeless people. There are so many things I'm going to have to learn how to deal with when I live in Philly. If it had just been me today, what would I have done? Probably just said "I don't have any money" and walked away as fast as I could. I know that that's not the moral thing to do but I don't know if I would've had the guts to stand there and talk to him like my grandma did.
     Anyway, the actual concert was good; albeit brimming with old people. I was the only person under 60 in like a twelve seat radius. The people performing were called The Young Irelanders and they played Irish music (not surprisingly) and there were also Irish dancers. It was pretty cool. I just loved hearing their accents. Irish accents are the best. It was especially fun to listen to/watch after watching Brooklyn. So yeah, that was fun and interesting and semi-blog-worthy.

Day 887 Song Recommendation: "Best Fake Smile" by James Bay. This is my new favorite song.

-SE Wagner