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30 DEC 03: HARD-SCRABBLE EXISTENCE
In my list of items for which I'm thankful [26 Nov], I mentioned the start of Scrabble nights at the Playwright Café. But the last few weeks I've felt guilty - because I hadn't actually attended one of those nights. It's like being thankful for a spare tire when you never pull it out of the trunk.
So Monday night I decided to drive down Broadway, to play Scrabble at the Playwright - and what happened? As I stood at the corner waiting for the light to change, a man clearly walking against the light greeted me from the middle of 11th Street.
Uh-oh - not even the downtown clean-up workers in purple shirts are this friendly.
"How're you doing?" said the man standing in the middle of 11th Street.
"Good evening," I replied quietly.
"Do you have any spare change?" Surprise, surprise. Sometimes I feel like a homeless person sprayed my jacket with dollar signs which beggars can see, but I can't.
"Let me cross the street first," I told the beggar in the intersection -- and then the light changed to cross 11th Street. That man should be thankful it was Monday night. On a Saturday night with a RiverCenter concert, he might have been run over -- but then again, he might have stood in the middle of a parking space and tried to sell it.
"What do you need the change for?" I asked the beggar after crossing 11th Street. I don't simply hand out money to anyone who asks -- well, unless it's April 15th.
"Get a sandwich," answered the beggar in condensed English.
"The Playwright Café's right down the street here. It's Scrabble night, and I can buy you a sandwich."
"All I want is a sandwich at Burger King," the man semi-protested. In this beggar's view, a dinner at the Playwright would have qualified him for Monday night's Robin Leach TV special "Life of Luxury."
(Speaking of that special - what's the deal with Russell Simmons and his wife having all those top-dollar mansions and Bentleys in New York? Why aren't any of those luxury items back home in Atlanta? Are they afraid Bobby Brown will knock on their door, and ask to borrow something?)
"I'm sure they have a sandwich at the Playwright," I reaffirmed to the man - and he accepted that idea. But then I noticed something curious. The 1000 block of Broadway was busy. The 1100 block had no cars at all. Is downtown zoning that restrictive -- putting all the gaudy-looking clothing stores here?
At 1109 Broadway, there were no lights on inside the Playwright Café. In fact, the door was locked - and the restaurant's hours of service appeared covered over with paper. I don't know if this was merely a shutdown for the holidays, or if Larry's Giant Subs already claimed a victim.
At least the beggar had stated his dream for dinner -- and so as a second choice, I decided to give it to him. We walked back to my car, and I drove the man to Burger King near 13th and Veterans Parkway. He hardly said a thing as I drove -- so maybe word is spreading downtown that I have an answer for the Salvation Army line. [Dec 18-19]
"A Whopper Junior and a senior drink," the beggar told a woman at the Burger King counter. He turned down a value meal - which is amazing, because I've met many homeless people who try to turn a request for a sandwich into a four-course banquet.
The sandwich and drink for this admittedly-broke man cost me $1.21 with tax - and with a thank you from him, I stepped outside and drove home. Once again my evening hadn't turned out as planned. But come to think of it, a burger and drink at the Playwright Café probably would have cost me five times more.
Monday night marked at least the third time in seven years I've bought food for beggars at the downtown Burger King. So why doesn't one of these fast-food chains open a restaurant inside a shelter? Homeless people would get both cheap food and job training....
The most memorable beggar I've helped at that Burger King was an overweight woman who first needed breakfast, then told me she also needed money for school supplies for her children. I was reluctant to take her to a store to buy those supplies. For one thing, she asked for them in late May -- two weeks before the school year erded.
BLOG UPDATE: Columbus NAACP President Edward DuBose called Monday for a federal investigation of what he considers systematic police brutality. Since Columbus has an African-American police chief, the betting may now begin on which civil rights leader will be first to say "Oreo" in public.
Edward DuBose called for Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson to resign. But at the same time, he encouraged all "good law officers" to keep doing their job. So which ones are these - the ones patrolling upper-class streets on the north side of town?
Edward DuBose has called a public hearing for January 21 at the Liberty Theater, to record what he calls a pattern of police racial profiling. We agree that this should end - only take the front mugshots, after arrests.
For a change, a Muscogee County Sheriff's officer talked with a TV station Monday. He stated deputies are NOT trained in racial profiling - but are given "sensitivity training." For instance, how to hug people and check their pockets for weapons at the same time.
The Muscogee County Sheriff's Office provided WRBL with a one-page report on the shooting of Kenneth Walker -- but NO videotape or name of the deputy who opened fire. Reporter Jessica Clark openly predicted on the air others requesting those items will not succeed. If that's true, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation should end its work any day now.
(Sheriff Ralph Johnson is playing the game of "Cover-Up" so well, he ought to head to Hollywood and appear on "The Price is Right....")
One TV report revealed when it comes to law enforcement in Columbus, the number of white personnel tops the number of African-American personnel by more than two to one. But we think there's a way to balance out those numbers - by counting all the recruit soldiers at Fort Benning.
BLOG YEAR-IN-REVIEW CON'D: August was quite an international month in Columbus. The Houlihan's Old Place restaurant opened downtown. The Civic Center hosted the International Festival. And I think it was about this time that Mike and Ed's barbecue went back to selling french fries, instead of "freedom fries."
A Columbus radio announcer gained national attention in August. Courtney Rollins of FM-92 "The River" tried to persuade her boyfriend to marry her at Dodger Stadium, on the reality show "Anything for Love." He said no - and we fear since then, Rollins has been saying "Anything for no more crank calls from hard-luck single guys."
Former Columbus Police Chief Jim Wetherington switched careers in August, becoming headmaster of Calvary Christian School. He's learned his new duties well - as he's kept as quiet about the handling of the Kenneth Walker case as any other white man in Columbus.
Miram's held the grand opening of a new restaurant in August, called "Tapas at the Village." This is not to be confused with her weekly talk show on TV-16 - "Tapes at the Village."
Meanwhile, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce announced in August the Germany company Heckler and Koch would open a gun factory in town. Once it opens, there will be two lines - one for the law officers, the other for African-American drivers.
The Atlanta Falcons took the field in August -- and Michael Vick broke his leg before the regular season even started. As a result, the Wardogs now have the golden opportunity to hire Dan Reeves as an assistant coach.
Then there was the Auburn football team -- which was shut out on opening night by Southern California. Isn't it strange? If the Tigers had played up to their pre-season hype, the Trojans might be playing for the B.C.S. national title after all.
August brought the big showdown over the Ten Commandments monument in Montgomery. It ended with the monument in a closet, Chief Justice Roy Moore out of a job - and Senate Democrats still unconvinced that Attorney General Bill Pryor was sincere, and deserved a judgeship.
(How strange a summer it was - with "Queer Eyes for the Straight Guy" out of the closet, and a Ten Commandments monument IN one.)
In September, Alabama voters rejected Amendment One -- what Governor Riley called his "tax and accountability package." The Governor now says he'll offer the legislature merely an "accountability package" next year. And if that fails, he'll try simply a "package" - maybe something from a package store.
WRCG Radio pulled a surprise in September, by giving Edward DuBose of the NAACP his own Saturday talk show. So when is Jerry Laquire going to make his debut on Foxie-105?
The new NAACP talk show began as WRCG marked 75 years on the air in Columbus. That's the diamond anniversary - so that's why you never hear Atlanta baseball games on any other station.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North came to Columbus for a book-signing and speech in September. Miriam Tidwell is trying to book him for a return trip next November - to tell off those SOA Watch protesters once and for all.
Best Buy opened a big new store in Columbus in September, up the hill from Peachtree Mall. How many of us wish Best Buy and Rich's-Macy's would trade places - so the traffic and parking jam near Manchester Expressway would clear up?
(Best Buy built its store where the Kinnett dairy used to be. After what we've heard lately about Kinnett's new owner Parmalat and its alleged accounting fraud, Columbus looks very smart -- even if it's by accident.)
COMING WEDNESDAY: Our year-end wrap-up concludes.... and good thing, because the year is wrapping up with it....
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