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2013-09-18
i wish i had something


There is this little, old Chinese woman who prowls the neighborhood where I work for bottles and cans. She wears a hat to keep the sun out of her eyes and gloves to protect her hands from the grossness of recycling bins. I used to shoo her away from our loading dock and close the gate before she could go through our bins. But, recently, I started letting her raid our bins so long as the gate was already up and I was dealing with deliveries. I was having another shitty day on Earth today and not wanting to be Earth, when she appeared on the sidewalk and plead with me to open the gate. I was reluctant at first--then I finally raised the gate while she grabbed all the bags of bottles and cans from the bins on our dock and gathered them on the sidewalk outside. I guess someone comes and picks her up. She looked so happy and cute. I imagined the proceeds from the recycling would do her and her family more good than the company that we pay to pick them up every week. I am a terrible, unhappy, selfish asshole most of the time, but sometimes making a stranger happy will make me feel a little closer to that illusory state myself. Even if she has beautiful daughters who wouldn't give me the time of day. Or because of that.


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