A going to a go, go great good morning to each and all, and a nice to see you again to this beautiful new day, today, we are already dancing with on our hills of this day as we charge forward.
Philly was a day or so of fun, fun, fun, for sure. We just skirted the weather while in DC, it rained while we were in Arlington, sprinkled on and off, and that’s it. After that though, the weather giggled like a school girl who just kept tying our shoelaces together or pulling our chair out from under us when we would go to sit down, all kinds of fun stuff.
Good thing we think of weather as “is what’s outside” and really could care less since we have absolutely zero control over any of that ka-ka whatsoever, big time out of our hands. lol
Nobody around us seemed to be happy with it though, not when it began raining in Philly and the winds started. As the first few inches of wet snow fell, the winds were knocking out power and of course our Hotel was one of the first to sign up for that. Hotel / Motel went to inside shelter pretty quick and if they would have let us start a fire we would have and could have sat like some of our ancestors, protecting the fire and our self. lol The power went out early and never came back before we left the next day when there was frozen slush and high winds and backed up planes, trains, and buses. There were actually people who took Uber from Philly to NYC, and no we weren’t one of them. lol Our schedule loosened up after Philly so we just headed out early and waited. New York City wasn’t going anywhere, and no matter what time you get there it is wide awake. Hahahahaha…
NYC is about money, and unless you have it, and even some of those folks, you are out there in the city getting it any way you can. New York City will suck the soul out of you if you let it, and it is pretty hard to say no to…
A really good guy, one of the best at what he does, really, go figure, that we met when we first went to Florida and got to know and became caretaker of due to his alcoholism, met us at the Port Authority. Brilliant guy, but just can’t beat the bottle… Not yet! We are always optimistic…
He was already in Florida when we got there, and had burned many of the bridges in the funding industry before getting there. He even trained many of the current best underwriters in the industry and helped start up several MCA Companies as the head of underwriting. Just can’t stay sober, and if available it is always alcohol plus this or that.
He is not a drunk! That was long ago, perhaps when he was a child. He is a full fledged worse case scenario, stumble until fall down, puke in public, pass out on the curb, repeat, repeat, for days, with have to have a drink when he comes to or withdrawals will start, in and out of the city shelters and hospitals, alcoholic.
He is almost 40, Native American, full blooded Cree, Chippawa of The Thames Tribe, and very proud of his heritage and such, and rightly so, but a bit too far, and our running joke is him always telling us we are the only white guy he don’t hate for the harm done to his people and history. A bit too far… lol
He hasn’t been doing well, and a few weeks ago, after passing out on a train, he was taken by police to the hospital when the police told him they had to stroke his sternum to get him to breathe. He also has sleep apnea! While there he checked into Detox, he really is a smart guy, sometimes.
We tell him he stays in the city so he can hide and stay drunk, and a favorite of his is to tell people it is his Birthday, and he does it all day long, especially at bars. He is well dressed, and passes as just another drunk office guy, until he really gets going and he wants to fight everyone or wants some woman, stumbles and slurs words and then it’s all over and self respect, self dignity, pretty much everything except alcohol and whatever ego attention thought he can hold on to. We spend most of our time in public with him telling folks to please don’t listen to him, because from start to finish and unconsciousness, his foul mouth and attitude are the last things to go before he is out cold, which could be anywhere at any time, and once he starts, rarely does anyone get within a few feet of him and he has to interact with them, never in a good way.
He points out the bars he is banned from, and tells the stories behind the don’t come back ever again, and will still try occasionally to waltz right back into some of them only to be told no, you can’t come in here. NYC has plenty of bars though, they are everywhere!
Yep, we remember NYC well, and at one point we were the new guy that made more than anyone else in the room and went on from there in Midtown before leaving it all and returning to NH and the restaurant to finish the NH Court case, our children came first.
NYC is a hustle, that’s what we always said and still say, and it is where we learned with anyone who approaches us, what do they want? Doesn’t matter, suit, satin, sack, office, restaurant, social event, subway, even on the street, if they approach you in NYC you need to be asking yourself what do they want? lol
The tourists are everywhere and the city loves them as much as they love the city, and Midtown and Times Square are world renown tourists destinations. There are folks who never leave the island, some who come and go, and some who never want to go back. lol We had no trouble with NYC when we lived there, and minded our own business and stayed out of trouble quite easily, and NYC is full of good folks everywhere, and good things and awesome things, NYC is the best and worst of our culture, and to some extent civilization. We have walked the island from top to bottom and side to side, and back in the day while there we would sometimes put in 20 miles in a day walking, every block different and unique, the people from all over the world. You will never hear more languages in one day than a good stroll through Central Park on a warm sunny day.
We thought we’d do a bit of shopping, not much, a sport coat perhaps, but we never really got to it in our almost two day stay, our caretaker duties prevented us from any real time to do anything of value, addicts, alcoholics, are very high maintenance. With it being our alcoholic’s home turf and him being excited to see us, we spent our time stopping for a drink here and there and always a drink while we walked anywhere, him not us, although we did have a sip or two, but surely not a full beer total the entire time, we’re not a drinker and never liked the taste of beer.
During his few moments of clarity we did have some talking while out and about but not much and we’re not sure if we were helpful or not, we’ll have to wait and see, and as always, must just be hopeful. We don’t associate with very many people, but we believe in everyone and know that any of us can change our life choices and hence change our life forward.
It was nice to see him and we wish him the best. We would have liked our visit to be under better circumstances, him doing better, and we made sure to offer him work which might help him get back on his feet, but we know you can’t help anyone who doesn’t want to help their self. We wish him well and hope to hear from him. Life is merely the consequences of our own decisions, and forward is the only direction to go!
Peace