7 SEP 07: UNITED WE STAND?

The United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley held its annual kickoff luncheon Thursday. The charity's new President and C.E.O. is Scott Ferguson, who told WRBL this year's $6.8 million goal should be easy to meet because the Columbus area is filled with "giving people." He apparently didn't pay attention to the recent property tax votes....

BLOGGER BEGGAR #11a: Should I count the same beggar two times, if he comes to my door twice? My older neighbor did Thursday evening -- actually the third time he's asked me for money in a month. He never checked back, after I promised to "think about" lending him money to pay for a gift of fish. Maybe he finally decided gifts don't have to cost anything.

"Charlie went into the hospital today," the neighbor mumbled. Charlie lives with the neighbor, and has been weakened by cancer to the point where he seems to be confined to a wheelchair. The lottery tickets I did NOT provide money for in August could have advanced him beyond needing a push.

I didn't quite hear the rest of the man's mumbling comment, because I had the TV turned up -- but he mentioned something about a few dollars. I smelled something was up when the next-door neighbor came by, and the man only mentioned Charlie being in the hospital. My dollar bills can't possibly be that superior in quality.

The mumbling neighbor then walked back to his apartment, without repeating the rest of the statement. I closed the door, since my air conditioner was running - but in a couple of minutes, he returned. Perhaps he was waiting for the coast to be clear, so his words could be.

"So Charlie's in the hospital...." I repeated - and the man at the door then filled in the rest. He needed about four dollars, like last month [16 Aug].

"I'll pay you five when my check comes" - and he told me it's coming today. A 25-percent return on a one-day investment beats throwing money into housing right now.

But since Charlie was in the hospital, I had an idea. Why not ask the other neighbors in the apartment complex to pitch in a little money to help? I wouldn't have to loan the man as much, there would be a sense of community compassion - and that sort of thing always worked for the Pound Puppies in the old cartoons.

I stepped outside and walked toward other apartments, where men were standing outside a bit like the guys next to the fence on "King of the Hill." I told them that the man's roommate Charlie was in the hospital, and needed some help. The men said nothing, and looked away like I was selling ballet tickets door-to-door.

"If you're going to be that way about it...." said the mumbling neighbor, who walked back into his apartment. I got the impression that he was more disappointed with my idea than the other people's tight wallets. He seemed to want help only from me - as if I look like Bill Gates's twin brother.

"I'll go get some money then," I said walking by the older man's door. Then the next-door neighbor walked up the sidewalk. "Charlie's in the hospital, and he needs about four dollars."

"Don't give that d**n fool nothin'," the next-door neighbor replied. So much for asking him to make a United Way donation.

"He needs to get a job," the next-door neighbor continued. But if the older man was on a disability check, as he told me last month, can he really do that?

"And if I see him showing up at your door, I'll tell him to leave.... I've got your back." As opposed to the other neighbor having my wallet....

But then my next-door neighbor added a line which truly put his foot in his own mouth, instead of the other neighbor's derriere. "Ms. Lola wouldn't have done that." This comment came from Lola's brother, who took over the apartment when she died two years ago. He didn't have my back years ago -- especially the back door Lola knocked on often for loans.

"But I recall," I finally answered, "how Ms. Lola knocked on my door about every month for loans before HER check came." She didn't mumble. She simply talked fast - but she also could talk loudly. Some months she received NO help from me, if I heard her talking to the other side of the complex about the Cash Three numbers she played.

My next-door neighbor didn't seem to know about this other side of his sister. But Ms. Lola repaid her loans when the paycheck or Social Security check came, and I noted the new older man did the same.

"He's paid you back?"

"He's done it once." I neglected to note here how the man quietly came to my door days later with five dollars. But he DID forget the two extra cents of gasoline he bought.

The next-door neighbor seemed satisfied by the fact that the older man had paid off his debt. I didn't bother asking if he was surprised - perhaps because he was still waiting for payback of his own.

A few minutes later, the older man came to my door a third time, and I gave him four dollars from my wallet. "And you'll repay me tomorrow?" The man said yes - but only later did I realize I never asked the man why he needed the money. Four dollars certainly wouldn't pay off Charlie's hospital bill.

Reflecting on this ten-minute dinnertime scene, I'm stunned by what happened. Is it possible that I'm the only person in the apartment complex who's willing to give this older man a loan? Even when his roommate with cancer is in the hospital? Is it possible my next-door neighbor is that hard-nosed with money? After all, he threw pennies on his front porch a couple of years ago for good luck.

What works for the Pound Puppies may work for the United Way, especially when you have corporate executives begging their employees to pitch in. But when I can't get my neighbors to give even a dollar to someone living alongside them - well, maybe that's why an old radio station boss scoffed at me when I applied for a sales job.

BLOG UPDATE: Now it becomes clear! A new ramp to the Riverwalk was built because a large section of the Riverwalk is closing. The city "ramped up" at Golden Park because another entry point in South Commons could be torn down.

Big signs along the Riverwalk warn the section from the Civic Center to Port Columbus will close today, and not reopen until March 30. I happened to jog through that section Thursday, and noticed multicolored lines spray-painted across the walkway -- too neat and organized to be painted by Columbus State University art students.

My theory is that major sewer work is planned on that part of the Riverwalk, between now and March. That's what happened a year or two ago, for the RoadAmerica call center on Victory Drive. But that work was finished in weeks, not months -- and this new project is near the South Columbus Water Treatment Facility, so who knows how slick and stinky it might be.

If the city is going to work on the Riverwalk between the Civic Center and Port Columbus, I suggest they finally install some lights on a wooden bridge in the center of the work zone. At night, that section is lit only by the moon - and sometimes not even by the bicycle riders who want to pass joggers like me.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Our mention of the "Clinton coronation tour" Thursday brought a comment, from someone who's witnessed it on TV....

Bill Clinton was on Larry King Live Wed night...He certainly is an intelligent man..He could talk circles around a question with no answer if he thought it might damage Hillary's campaign...

Now wait a minute! If the former President was that intelligent, he wouldn't have been impeached for.... hey, come to think of it, who IS Monica Lewinsky endorsing in the 2008 race?

(There's one TV talk show which the Clintons seem to be avoiding so far. Maury Povich might have a surprise woman, waiting for the results of a DNA test.)

Speaking of scandals, let's check some news headlines from Thursday:

+ An aide to the Phenix City Clerk filed a harassment complaint against City Councilor Ray Bush. The woman claims Bush told dirty jokes, and engaged in "improper touching." Just because it's football season does NOT mean touchbacks are fitting in every setting.

(A statement from Ray Bush claims the harassment complaint was "politically motivated." Does that mean embattled City Manager Bubba Roberts is involved in this? Are the dirty jokes on tape? And will John Boy and Billy play them on Rock 103?)

+ A Mobile County, Alabama judge was accused of going to the county jail and spanking prisoners. I'm not sure how cruel this punishment is -- but it's certainly unusual.

+ A federal judge ruled Georgia's new voter identification law is legal. You'll have to show a "photo ID" at the polls - unless you vote absentee, when it's NOT required. So the people who supposedly are too poor to have their picture on a card legally can be dumb enough to vote early.

+ Instant Message to Placido Domingo and Jose Carerras: My sympathies are with you. Take as much time as you need to mourn. Then I'd like to talk with you about an album idea I have - "Two Tenors and a Baritone."

SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND: Are some Georgia Lottery games fixed? We hear from some skeptics....

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