"Your busybodies are in overdrive"

Well, no Thanksgiving dinner should go unscathed at Lee Terrace and yesterday did not disappoint. (that statement is dripping with sarcasm)

We had a wonderful dinner provided by the church at Lee Terrace yesterday. There were 4 tables overflowing with turkey, ham and all the trimmings you can think of. One small highlight I can think of now is when they were carrying all the food in and setting up the tables,all the work was being done by the ladies of the church. Until one person, Ricky, who is mildly retarded and a new resident at Lee Terrace, stood up and shouted, "come on people, we need some volunteers to get this stuff in here!" Thankfully several of the more able bodied men then got up and began to help out. It took someone who is supposedly incapacitated to get them moving.

As this was going on a man marched into the dining room and started to go off on the busybodies (Patsy, Linda and a few others who generally cause trouble) who were all grouped at one table. Of course the completely shocked, old ladies couldn't tolerate an outburst directed at then so they started to yell for somebody to call the police. Which was done. The man who was mad at them is a homeless man who had been sneaking in the building for the past week or so to escape the cold. He should not be there, but this was a Thanksgiving dinner and I believe that politics should be dropped for such occasions and that anyone should be provided with a meal. After all we are all beggars here at Lee Terrace, it is just that we are under government care while this man is not.

I made sure that someone was taking care of the people in wheelchairs and then I went to check on the man. The pastor, who has taken to watching me because he has noticed that when there is a problem I am generally part of the solution, asked me where I was going. He had not been in the room when the outburst had happened. I told him I was going to check on something and I didn't have time to talk but he was welcome to come with me. He followed me into the lobby where I saw policemen, the gaggle of busybodies and the homeless man grouped outside the building.

I pointed to them and I told him, "Your busybodies are in overdrive. That man is homeless and he had caused some problems in the building. He should not be here but this is a Thanksgiving dinner and I just wanted to make sure he got a plate before they ran him off."

"I'll see what I can do," Rick told me. So, I went back into the dining room and sat down to wait for the line to clear out a little. When I checked the line for progress a few minutes later the homeless man was there and the gaggle of busybodies were a little further back.

I waited awhile longer and then I got in line for my plate. I timed it perfectly because I got the last little bit of mashed potatoes. There was still plenty of other good food but in my book you need mashed potatoes and gravy to complete the Thanksgiving meal.

After dinner I went outside to enjoy the afternoon sun. Patsy and one of her friends then followed me out and immediately lit cigarettes while they laughed at me because they knew I would have to get up and move because I can't breathe. As they were making fun of me and I was walking off, I told them to "FUCK OFF!" Now they are horrified because I had the nerve to speak to them in such a manner.

Oh well, it was another typical day at Lee Terrace. I guess I should mention that the night before I had given out 10 gallons of free milk provided by Fruth pharmacy. Patsy and her smoker friend were at the front of the line thanking me for the milk.