bye by buh buy.

WHAT a weekend. A quick recap. Early Friday night I stayed in to suss out my yard sale, then went to JR's going-away party. I like that there's a party house within crawling distance of my house, because crawl I did, at 5:00AM. Ergo, Saturday was a bit heavy-headed. I went for breaky and did my radio show, then for sushi with Liz and Leah. THAT'S WHEN we got the call. An offer had come through on Leah's condo. We'd been waiting and waiting for this to happen for over a week - it was like pins and needles. We met the realtor back at the pad, papers were signed, counteroffers submitted and accepted, and a deal was made. What a weight to be lifted. The only thing left at that point was...the yard sale.

It went splendidly. Aside from getting drunkstroke and passing out at 9PM for 12 hours, it was SUCH a fun day! So many people came by to say hello and goodbye and bought tons and tons and tons of stuff!

Now it's the real countdown. There is very little left to do but pack, and seeing as though my room is already in complete disarray, it should be kinda easy.



I'm gonna take this opportunity to gripe, albeit briefly.

Back in my idealistic and super-lefty days, I would have bent over backwards to help "the poor". I put that in quotes because I don't even know what that means anymore. I grew up poor, but we always had what we needed, even if it wasn't the BEST stuff, or the NICEST, my parents worked hard to keep us fed and happy. I'm not complaining. What I AM complaining about is the ever-growing number of panhandlers in downtown Edmonton. This city, and this province is in the middle of the single biggest job boom and subsequent labour shortage in our short history, and the amount of able-bodied men* on the street panhandling is simply STAGGERING.

*men=I say men, because it is 90% men. the women that panhandle are the 'usuals', who I don't give money to because I see them day in and day out, and they aren't doing anything to help themselves.

In the 30 minutes I was out for lunch, I was asked for 'spare change' no less than 8 times by the same amount of people. One guy had the sheer audacity to say, "spare a buck for an old drunk from Halifax?"...I was stunned at that. I knew he came here for work, and was simply pissing away whatever money he HAD earned, and now wanted ME to help him out. it's THESE people that piss me off. Sure, I should have my socialist-ascribed tag line ready; "we are all humans, and deserve help, blah blah"...NO. Not anymore. Seriously. I am sick to fucking death of working every single day, earning MY keep...and my politics are trying to tell me that I should just give give give? Bollocks.



I'm not SO cold-hearted. When I lived on the south side, I constantly gave money to a guy I knew who sold Our Voice (cheap street monthly); I never took an issue, so he could sell it and keep my money, but I started to give him less and less when he appeared and smelled drunk at 9:00, or when his girlfriend (who was mentally handicapped) showed up one morning with black eyes. I didn't see him for a long, long time after that...then about a month ago I saw him; or I should say, I shadow of him. He must have lost 75 pounds in 6 months. he was HUGE, and now he was THIN. Nothing but drugs do that. I gave him $5 for a sandwich, and he disappeared and came back all wild-eyed and asked me for $5 more, "cuz that sandwich was SO GOOD (he) wanted another".

What do I look like, a fucking moron?

The other guy I give money to, and still do, is named George. He's genuinely homeless, unable to work due to schizophrenia, and has to give most of his money to pay health premiums for his daily dialysis treatments. I sometimes buy him lunch, I sometimes just give him whatever I've got in my pocket. He never has excuses, or even ASKS for money, he just sits there with his cup and his Our Voice, and he's humble about it. Not these in-your-face-drunk-by-noon-bleeding-on-the-sidewalk ASSHOLES who dominate my peripheral vision every day downtown.

GODDAMMIT. /end rant.

ugh. I don't want to sound so mean, but I'm looking to some of the committed leftists who I respect so much to step up here (Sammers? Zoe?)...tell me what I'm supposed to do or think. Please, I want to feel better about this.