Have you ever done something that could be considered a good deed,

[buzzycrumbhunger]

8. Yup

… but the most recent has turned into a huge regret.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area has like 900,000 people (don’t think that counts snowbirds). Housing costs have skyrocketed, taking everything else with them. As a result (and factoring in that the climate is at least mild year round so no one’s going to freeze to death half the year), we have TONS of homeless.

I’ve interacted with many of them as I was riding the bus to/from work, and there was always someone panhandling if you made the mistake of making eye contact or returning a greeting. Sorry, I don’t carry cash. I’m just trying to get home in one piece after a shitty day, dude.

Last week, we were headed to an appointment and son had to screech to a stop mid intersection because a woman decided to ignore the red light and push her loaded bike right in front of our car as we were turning. She flashed a peace sign, son waved her on. Apparently, he/we are easily remembered because we keep seeing her around now, and she keeps approaching us for handouts. Mind you, son and I BOTH are currently unemployed and freaking out about not being homeless ourselves, but she cornered him at fkg Walmart the other day and she demanded he buy her a $5 rotisserie chicken. He was so dumbfounded that he did it just to be rid of her. I’m fairly confident this is going to get ugly very quickly… Makes me reluctant to even make eye contact with people, let alone helpful beyond getting things off high shelves and helping grannies navigate rough terrain. *sigh*

I really, REALLY hate this timeline…