Today was an interesting day...spent the day with the wife on one of the rare days she actually has no plans with her girlfriends or family.... tease her about that, " Hey babe you know I shouldn't feel that I need to schedule myself a few hours with you- ya know" she chuckles...I give the stink eye...
Anyway we were near the Midway here in San Diego ( Pic ) enjoying the cruise and scenery...after our brunch at Liberty Station... and the wife walks away snapping some pics...
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Well a gentleman by the name of Neil ( or what he said his name was ) approached me while I sat on the bench taking this picture; he seemed distraught and down in luck pushing a shopping cart with his suit cases in them. He strolled himself towards me, I smiled, greeted him a wonderful Sunday afternoon with a smile.
He looked at me with an odd sense or at least to me he was probably taken a back by anyone actually acknowledging him and greeting him...anyhoo he responded in kind and we talked for a bit.
We exchanged pleasantries about weather and I said to him, "Take a seat sir, 3 benches here and I don't bite"... again he looked at me oddly, I am sure he wasn't expecting a 6'1" 230lb Filipino to just be open to conversation.
Me and the Wife
yes that's my snarky ass.
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Anyway... He asked if I smoked, which I told him I don't smoke and apologized I wasn't able to help him.
He started opening up about his situation which honestly I didn't care about, to me its a song and dance to the ask... I know insensitive, but I didn't act upon that thought, but at the same time, I was waiting for it.
All the while I see my wife walking farther away, have to keep an eye on her wandering ass lol
After a few minutes pass, the wife starts walking back towards me...she is more the Christian than I am, but she is also more the type of, "EWW what are you doing here", which is really bad sometimes, I digress.
Wife comes close and Neil greeted her in kind, all the while I am waiting for the ask.
I am also looking at the mans belongings in his cart, the condition of his clothes, his shoes, looking to see if he in my opinion is truly destitute, which being homeless doesn't always mean you are, but in my opinion I believed this kind gentleman named Neil was.
So I shifted the conversation to specifics... I asked him if I could ask him a few questions and if he minded that they may come off a persecutory (Is that even a word? lol fucking chink get with the engrish! ) Which surprisingly he didn't mind at all and he seemed very relaxed speaking to me.
Anyway I asked him if he had a toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant etc. Which he replied he had a toothbrush but the other things he did not, I asked him if he was a drug addict ( which he didn't seem as such nor had the mannerisms of one ) and he replied no, his only vise was gambling ( later revealed as his reason of homelessness ) and smoking.
Anyway I said to him, "You going anywhere in the next hour and one half?" He replied jokingly, "I might make it to the other side of the marina today."
I prompted him to wait that amount of time, and the wife and I headed to the closest Wal-Mart... Bought some necessities for him... Basically a small care package... Socks, iso-alcohol, under garments,first aid kit, 3 bags of baby wipes, deodorant, toothpaste... small case of gatorade, canned food ( Much hate to much NaCl
) can opener and a some plastic forks and spoons, and stopped at Subway on the way back and got him a foot long
Drove back to the same place off harbor drive and he was still there chilling on the bench we were chatting at earlier.
To bring my story to an end, Neil was very appreciative, he didn't ask for a thing besides a smoke and was a kind hearted 60 something...
What made this even slightly vape related, I looked for a juul device at the local Wal-Mart but all they had were pods available sadly and I wasn't going to give him my Pico!
If I had more trust in humanity, I would of used up some of the free hotel nights I have banked and got him a room at the Sheraton down the road, at least allow him a night in comfort and a shower...but the realist in me said, "Damages or stolen items can be a mother fucker to your credit card"
Apologies for my wall of text... I wanted to share my day to someone other than the wife... truly makes me think about the fortunate decisions I made in life and how one fuck up can lead to catastrophe.
Sorry homie, Pico is MINES! lol
I would like to see that thing after he has run a few coils through there and melted it down to a nice little lump of plastic. That is why I think most YouTube reviewers are jokes and nothing but corporate shills who push whatever gets sent to them for free.