On Saturday the Internet went out at the house. I couldn’t get online, and that made me pissed. I yelled at my wife, “Did you pay the Spectrum bill?” Her answer isn’t repeatable. So I turned on my son. “Have you been fooling around with the modem?” “No”, he screamed. “Then what the hell is it”??? I was so frustrated. I called Spectrum and they said, calmly: there are no outages in your area, to which I replied, “there’s an outage in my goddamned livingroom!”
Finally, I storm out of the house, get in the car, and head toward the Crow’s Nest, my bar of choice. I wanted a beer and a shot, not necessarily in that order.
Only I didn’t make it. I get within a mile and suddenly in front of me are a bunch of cop cars, two ambulances, and a fire truck. I creep up and pulled over. There are two cars that must have hit head-on and melded into one ugly mess.
And there’s a paramedic leaning over someone lying in the street and I can see someone on a gurney in the back of the ambulance.
And I’m whining about my stupid internet access.
- Your life is crummy?
- Runnin’ short of luck?
- Your job blows?
- Credit card maxed-out?
- Your woman leave you for a mall masseuse?
- You sick and tired of being sick and tired?
- Your team lost?
- You feel fat?
- Your car acting up?
- The tax man breathing down your neck?
Life can really blow. It can just suck the joy out of living. But guess what, dude. As bad as it is, and much as it sucks, you have it better than someone else.
TASK:
This week you are going to look in on some men who have it worse than you. You HAVE to volunteer, or at least visit, one of the following locations:
1) The waiting area of the emergency room. Go to the nearest big city. Find the emergency room waiting area. Sit down for four hours. You’ll see the flotsam and jetsam of humanity roll in and out like the tide.
2) Homeless shelter. Shelter is a basic human need. Many men don’t have it, so they go to homeless shelters. Go to one. Volunteer.
3) County homes. Fun places where aging men without means, or family, or both, are institutionalized.
4) School for the mentally challenged. Is it blissful not to know that you’re one of the disenfranchised? I don’t think so.
5) Orphanage or foster home.
6) Or drunk tank, or skid row, or mental health institute. You make the call.
Then come home and write about it.
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