Tuesday, November 06, 2007
The Human Experiment.
Hi. I'm ignoring all of the safety warnings ever. Throwing caution to the wind. As of right now, there is a guy that I only know by the name of "Justin" sleeping on my futon.
Let us start at the beginning, shall we? My Tuesdays are always long days. I start from my house, and spend between seven and eight hours on the road, not counting the time I spend servicing my accounts, taking inventory and making sales calls every Tuesday. At the end of the day today, I decided to stop by the Village Idiot, where I work most nights, for a quick beer.
As you may imagine, the bar is relatively empty at 4:30. As I stood at the bar, waiting for Moses to hand me my second beer, the guy next to me struck up a conversation. It turns out he lives not too far from my old house in Greenville, SC, and we have some similar interests. Since I am waiting for Melissa to meet me, I gladly pass the time with Justin. I learn that he is going through a "quarter-life" crisis. He is somewhat newly married to a woman ten years his senior, and has three step-children. One at fifteen years old, and a set of ten year-old twins. I never learn the gender, as his speech is beginning to slur beyond recognition.
He is going through what so many twenty-somethings go through. Not too far out of college, testing his wings, he has gotten into more debt than he meant to. Bills are tight, and the holidays are approaching. He has chosen to take a somehwat different approach to the typical "stay at home and spend no money" stance. He is on a three day bender. This is day five. He has left his wife and home in Greenville to hang out with a friend in Charleston, SC for a few days. Somehow he wound up in Columbia. The details escape me, as his speech is severely hindered. I do know that he has nowhere to stay and cannot operate the simplest of motor vehicles.
I am at a loss. I meant to have a few carefree beers and retire for the evening. Instead, Justin is in the other room. I firmly believe that he is a good person. However, as a precaution, I have locked the doors that need to be locked and hidden the keys. In the morning, I will drop him off at his car and go about my day. I'll keep you posted.
JT out.
Update: Melissa and I survived the night, and Justin has been dropped off back at his car. He barely remembers meeting me yesterday...at 5 PM on a Tuesday.
Let us start at the beginning, shall we? My Tuesdays are always long days. I start from my house, and spend between seven and eight hours on the road, not counting the time I spend servicing my accounts, taking inventory and making sales calls every Tuesday. At the end of the day today, I decided to stop by the Village Idiot, where I work most nights, for a quick beer.
As you may imagine, the bar is relatively empty at 4:30. As I stood at the bar, waiting for Moses to hand me my second beer, the guy next to me struck up a conversation. It turns out he lives not too far from my old house in Greenville, SC, and we have some similar interests. Since I am waiting for Melissa to meet me, I gladly pass the time with Justin. I learn that he is going through a "quarter-life" crisis. He is somewhat newly married to a woman ten years his senior, and has three step-children. One at fifteen years old, and a set of ten year-old twins. I never learn the gender, as his speech is beginning to slur beyond recognition.
He is going through what so many twenty-somethings go through. Not too far out of college, testing his wings, he has gotten into more debt than he meant to. Bills are tight, and the holidays are approaching. He has chosen to take a somehwat different approach to the typical "stay at home and spend no money" stance. He is on a three day bender. This is day five. He has left his wife and home in Greenville to hang out with a friend in Charleston, SC for a few days. Somehow he wound up in Columbia. The details escape me, as his speech is severely hindered. I do know that he has nowhere to stay and cannot operate the simplest of motor vehicles.
I am at a loss. I meant to have a few carefree beers and retire for the evening. Instead, Justin is in the other room. I firmly believe that he is a good person. However, as a precaution, I have locked the doors that need to be locked and hidden the keys. In the morning, I will drop him off at his car and go about my day. I'll keep you posted.
JT out.
Update: Melissa and I survived the night, and Justin has been dropped off back at his car. He barely remembers meeting me yesterday...at 5 PM on a Tuesday.
Comments:
<< Home
Woah. You did a nice thing, although there was a fair-to-decent chance of getting slaughtered. This is why you have guns in the house, I presume.
JT, I salute you, and I'll be praying that this man comes to his senses and sees what a treasure he has in his wife & step-kids before he throws it all away.
Well done--though I'd have gotten that 11mm out as well, just in case.
Well done--though I'd have gotten that 11mm out as well, just in case.
You know, though, I'd have to guess that you might not have been in that much hazard, as barkeeps like yourself often have a pretty decent idea of how people react when coming out of the stupor, don't they?
Post a Comment
<< Home
