25 APR 05: DOLLAR DAZED

"Hey, do you have a dollar I can borrow?" So asked the young man who approached me wearing a look-alike Miami Dolphins #34 uniform. What a shame that Ricky Williams has been reduced to this, since retiring from pro football....

But no, this wasn't even a lookalike Ricky Williams outside a Cross-Country Plaza store the other afternoon. For one thing, the man had red-orange hair - and not even Williams would do that with his dreadlocks.

"For what purpose?" I asked the man about his need for a dollar. Regular blog readers should know the drill by now. I don't give out money just because someone asks for it -- since I'm not a member of the Georgia General Assembly.

"I'm trying to get something to drink," #34 answered. Thankfully for him, he was outside a Publix supermarket. On a good day, you can actually buy two-liter bottles of soda for a dollar here -- simply don't expect any chips to go with it.

I was willing to buy a drink for this beggar, but first I had to do something else. At the end of serious spring cleaning, I had several plastic bags to recycle in the bins outside Publix -- but I forgot this store does NOT accept blue or black bags, and I had several mixed in. Some would call this discrimination on the basis of color.

After sorting out the plastic bags, I walked inside Publix and showed #34 the mini-cases with 20-ounce bottles of soda inside. Looking back now, I guess I should have bought him a two-liter bottle. He would get more for his money - well, make that MY money.

The young man selected a 20-ounce Coca-Cola, and we waited in the checkout line for about a minute. "Oh, man," he said as we waited. I wasn't sure if he was going to miss his METRA bus, or what....

"Could I get some candy, too?" #34 asked. There's nothing like a balanced lunch at about 2:00 in the afternoon.

"That's not what you asked for," I answered. A woman stood near both of us, but I'm not sure if she figured out what was happening. I'm also not sure if #34 was too polite to ask that woman for money -- or simply too ignorant.

"That'll be $1.12," said the woman at the Publix checkout. I pulled out my dollar -- and much to my surprise, #34 reached into his pocket and pulled out change for the 12 cents. How strange is this? A beggar actually was willing to lend ME a hand.

I went ahead and paid the entire $1.12 for the 20-ounce Coke. "Thank you," said the Publix employee.

"And thank YOU," I said to #34 as he took custody of his drink. If he said thank you back to me, I didn't hear it. Maybe he was stunned, and trying to figure out why I said thanks to him. If he's reading this now - it was a slip of the tongue, really....

With this good deed accomplished, I turned around and went back down the aisles at Publix to buy things I needed and wanted in the first place. I caught #34 out of the corner of my eye, heading out the door and down the sidewalk. A second chance for candy was only a short walk away - so did any of you see him outside CVS?

BLOG UPDATE: When the gates of Riverfest opened at 6:00 p.m. ET Friday, a thunderstorm was rattling the Historic District. I couldn't help wondering if Someone was trying to tell the civil rights leaders they were right all along....

The Friday evening thunderstorm was so strong that WRBL lost its broadcast audio at the start of the 6:00 p.m. news - and apparently didn't restore it until after noon Sunday. First Presbyterian Church should learn a lesson from this, and have someone give the Sunday sermon in sign language.

Since the WRBL broadcast signal had no audio, perhaps someone can tell me - what WAS that big object Jeff Donald held in his hand during a weather update at about 6:05 p.m. Friday? Did a part of the station's ceiling cave in? Or was it very odd-looking beach ball-sized hail?

Back at Riverfest, we're told a good crowd showed up on Broadway over the weekend. One block away on First Avenue, the Urban League kicked off its annual membership drive as the festival began. We hope to obtain counts today of how many people attended Riverfest -- and how many spat on the Urban League building.

Members of the congregation I attend had a nice, entertaining Saturday night dinner at Bludau's -- and it was surprising to find room to park on Broadway, between Golden Park and the Fifth Street entry gate. Perhaps this only proves what civil rights activists suspected. People from the south side of Columbus aren't expected to show up at Riverfest.

If fireworks went off at the end of Friday night's Riverfest activities, I slept through them. But I know they went off Saturday night -- because for a second, I thought they were part of the sound effects for Bill Purvis's "Real Time" sermon.

OVERHEARD OVER HERE: A group of men is standing around, talking about immigration. One of them stands about five-foot-five:

"I know I'm short, but I've seen some people who only come up to here. Are they Guatemalans, or what?"

"No," another says, "they're midgets."

Now other, well, short tidbits from a refreshing weekend:

+ Which downtown-area restaurant is stunning customers, by suddenly increasing its steak prices by four dollars? And even worse, the fact that "White-Out" was used on the menu to change the price doesn't look very classy at all....

+ A drive down Gentian Boulevard confirmed the Coach's Corner has closed. That sports bar was on Fort Benning's "hit list" for months, then taken off - but after further review, the original call stands.

(Meanwhile, I'm hearing the Texas Steakhouse on Sidney Simons Boulevard has closed as well. Diners apparently prefer the Texas ROADhouse near J.R. Allen Parkway - and the pieces of road they serve.)

+ Two Fort Benning military wives received home makeovers, in a program called "Flipping Quarters." For the majority of us, "flipping quarters" means checking to see if you have a new state for your collection.

+ The Callaway Gardens "Birds of Prey" show unveiled a new peregrine falcon named Sprint. Look, I know Sprint PCS is a sponsor now - but I expect falcons to fly, OK?!

+ The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer had a big front-page headline: "EMPLOYEES OVERWORKED, UNDERPAID." I'll bet that sold a lot of papers - because nearly every employee in Columbus believes that applies to their job.

+ Georgia's "Gym Dogs" won the NCAA women's gymnastics title at Auburn University. Oh yeah?! I'm waiting for the Eufaula Tribune and Valley Times-News to publish special editions, giving that title to Auburn as well -- even though it didn't compete.

+ Asheville beat the Columbus Riverdragons, and won the N.B.D.L. title for the second year in a row. This means the city of Columbus can go ahead and organize a victory parade for the Cottonmouths - and not have to persuade them to hold a combined parade to save city money.

COMING TUESDAY: The blog gets e-mail from Mimi Woodson.... well, sort of....

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