When I was in Jerez we took a turn down a narrow little side street heading back to the hotel and I saw a guy walking towards us, obviously a bit down and out, and a little unsteady on his feet, but he seemed friendly enough and waved at us as he went by, and I waved back. Then we passed where I had seen him get up from, a doorway that was clearly his home. And my heart broke a little bit. The sign posted on his little stand said…
No estoy aquí por gusto, ní para que me humíllen. Sólo pido ayuda por favor.
I am not here by choice, nor to be humiliated. I am simply asking for help, please.
Then I noticed a rather large book next to his bed and took a closer look… it was the 1992 edition of Curso de Vinos Españoles a classic work on wine education. And I thought, what the fuck man, you just never know do you? And then I wished he hadn’t been in such a hurry to head out because I suddenly had so many questions. I’ll have another look for him next time I’m in Jerez.
Damn. Fuck. I mean…
I’m thinking of my late and ex now. Gone almost twenty years. When he was picked up off the street and taken to the hospital where he later died – after two months of radio silence — he’d been sleeping under the canopy of one of DC’s Metro subway stations, alongside other homeless people huddling there for warmth. I only pried that out of him by degrees, after I got the call from the emergency doctor who found my phone number in his pocket.
He was a man who had performed on stages up and down the Atlantic coast, who owned enough books to fill a storage unit (he apparently valued protecting his books and records more than himself), who remains one of the four or five smartest and best-read people I have ever known, who taught English to immigrants and loved cats, even though he also was a habitual liar and wouldn’t wash and wouldn’t work or even file for government pension benefits because they might come after him to pay it all back something something, I never understood it.
We are squandering valuable, vulnerable human beings to pad rich fucks’ bank accounts. and it creeps every year.
On a related note, I got this in my email a few days ago and signed it, for all the good it will do. https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/998/341/287/
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Yeah, I remember the various stories about your late and ex, such a confuddler! And yes, Maricarmen (the 87 year old woman you linked to) seems to have been the spark igniting the country into action. There have been massive protests all over the country over affordable housing and now the President has called a snap election for Nov 29th as he can’t get any of the reforms put through because conservatives and extremists block every one. It’s quite a risk, huge gamble, that I hope will pay off.
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