Chickens

  My phone rang one morning.  I answered it, and the man's voice on the other end told me that today was going to be a happy day.  I thanked him.  He told me that I had won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes.  I asked him how much did I win?  He told me $250 million dollars.  Well, for a half a second, I was surprised, but then I wondered why the guy with balloons wasn't out front.  Don't they surprise you at the door?  I've seen many TV congratulatory commercials, usually around the time of the NBC national news.  This guy was trying to give me a heads up, I guessed.  I asked him about the balloons, and he said he just wanted to make sure I would be home that night.  I told him that I would act surprised.

 Being skeptical, I had to ask him a couple of questions to verify his announcement.  Knowing that PCH was located in NY state, I asked him what his address was.  He gave me an address in NY state.  Okay, then I asked him how the weather was there, and he said it was hot.  They had just gone through a blizzard up there.  Red flag.  

 Back in 1980, I worked for the federal government.  One of my duties was to find people who had not paid their taxes for the last seven years.  My job taught me well.  Not to brag, but I could find just about anyone.  While I was talking to this nice man on the phone, I went to my computer and did a search for the phone he was calling from.  It came back as a foreign number.  Red flag number two.  But, I decided to play along with him.  I asked him if he would call back.  I figured if he thought he had a pigeon on the phone, he would call back.

 Guess what?  He did.  He told me that they weren't going to be able to come by to give me my check for $250 million.  I wasn't surprised.  He asked me if I would be available the next day?  I said yes.  He said that his people were going to go by my bank and deposit the money before coming over to my home.  He wanted me to give him my bank account number over the phone.  Of course, I wasn't going to do that.  I suggested that I meet his people at my bank.  I asked him what time should I meet his people at my bank, and he said around 9:30am.  There was just one problem.  His original call was on a Friday.  I told him that my bank wasn't open on Saturday.  He didn't know that.  Red flag number three.

 I asked to speak to his supervisor, because I thought we were at an impasse.  He told me that his supervisor was not in the office.  That was when I heard a strange sound.  Chickens clucking in the background.  And, other voices sounding like they were calling other "winners".  Red flag number four.  Since when are there other $250 million-dollar winners out there?  And, why do they have chickens clucking in their "office"?  I asked him to please call me back in about an hour.  

 While I was waiting for him to call back, I contacted PCH.  They said my call was a scam.  I then contacted the Federal Trade Commission and told them about these scammers.  I gave them the number of these guys who raise chickens.  When the guy called back, I told him that I had checked with his company, and they told me that his call was a scam.  I also told him that I had contacted the FEDS.  He got very belligerent and started cursing me.  He then said that there was a guy out front of my house with a shotgun, and he was going to kill me.  I told him that I don't live in a house.  I live in an apartment.  I looked outside, and no one was there.  He hung up on me.  I called the Sheriff's Department to report a murder threat over the phone.  They sent a car out just to make sure there wasn't someone across the street with a shotgun.  I filled out a report just in case, but I found that this guy was calling from Jamaica.  I just hope their chickens laid some eggs for breakfast the next morning.  

Paranoia

  Sometimes, paranoia is a good thing.  It can keep you from getting hurt.  Such was the case in the Spring of 2020.  After going to the Kiss concert, things started getting worse for our country and the world.  Folks were getting Covid-19 right and left.  A lockdown was ordered.  One could not go outside except for necessities like food and pharmacy stuff.  They were particularly warning those folks with underlying medical conditions and those over 65 to stay indoors.  Two strikes against me.  I am over 65, and my medical condition is dyspnea, which is a problem with my lungs.  It developed after I became homeless and had that six-month bout with pneumonia.  

 About the only time I went out was to go to the grocery store or the post office.  I felt like I was in a hazmat suit.  I learned to wear a mask and carried hand sanitizer everywhere.  I washed my hands more than I had in my entire life.  We know now that some of that might have been overreacting, but the whole world knew nothing and had to trust the medical professionals.  I think we all knew more about public health during this time than we ever learned in school.  

 People started dying of this disease.  I lost many friends due to Covid.  The first was early on in the pandemic.  He worked for the Progressive Network and helped us with the Midlands Transit Riders Association.  He thought he had the flu or a really bad cold.  He couldn't breathe and died.  His death hit a lot of people very hard, because he seemed healthy and watched what he ate.  His obituary was printed in The New York Times, along with others around the country who died early on from Covid.  

 I stayed inside most of the day and watched TV.  It is a good thing that I have so many movies on DVD.  They came in handy.  I ventured out once a day to visit with a friend, but we social distanced and wore masks.  I needed to exercise, so I would walk around our parking lot or up the street for a block or so and come back.  I didn't want to see anyone on the street, because they might spread germs to me.  After 4 months of virtual isolation, I ventured out to a nearby walking track around a pond.  There were geese and ducks in the pond.  The track was almost a mile, and I took my time to get some fresh air and exercise.  The next step was to get back on a bus.  Everyone had to wear masks on the bus.  I took a short ride to test the waters.  Then came a longer ride to go to the doctor's office for a long-waited appointment.  I started to feel a little less paranoid every day.  I wasn't going to let this disease keep me from doing stuff.  

 Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff I wanted to do was cancelled.  I couldn't go to church in person, but I could attend via TV or the internet.  I couldn't go to any bus meetings, but I discovered Zoom.  No more concerts for a while, but I had a lot of live music on CD's.  I couldn't go to stores, but I ordered stuff from Amazon.  One thing we humans seem to do rather well is adapting to a situation.  There will be those stubborn people who want to live their lives without adapting.  Many of my friends died, because they were not willing to adapt.  I lost count at 20.  Most shouldn't have died.  Almost all had underlying conditions.  One really stuck out.  His name was Bill.  I had known him for almost 40 years.  He was a great guy and singer.  He wanted to live his life the way he wanted to and on his own terms.  When he got Covid, he went to the hospital.  We all thought that he was doing better, when he took a turn for the worse.  He said that he wished that he had listened to the doctors' advice.  I miss Bill, as I miss all of my other friends who died of Covid.  I am glad I am still paranoid.  

KISS

  I had a dilemma.  Elton John was coming to Columbia as part of his farewell tour in 2020.  I had seen him in concert twice before, but this would be the last time.  He puts on a great show.  Then, it was announced that KISS and David Lee Roth would be here in February 2020.  I had never seen either one of them, but I was familiar with much of their music.  What to do?  The ticket prices for Elton were a lot.  More than I really wanted to spend.  After all, the first time I saw Elton in 1973 at UGa, my ticket cost $2.  The second time was in Columbia in 1980.  Tickets were around $20.  Now, they wanted $200 for a fairly good seat.  I bought a ticket for KISS instead.  Less than $100.

 The seat was where I liked to sit.  Right behind the soundboard.  David Lee Roth was their opening act.  He did some Van Halen songs mostly.  I was amazed that he could still jump, but I was afraid he was going to throw out a hip.  He didn't look like the front man for Van Halen anymore, but his voice was still good.  Then, KISS came out.  They put on a great show with everything you would expect from them.  It was well worth the ticket price.  I made the right decision.

 I had a meeting at church the next morning, so I decided to stay in a hotel downtown overnight instead of going back home after the show.  I got a little sleep and went to the meeting.  The world was hearing about Covid-19, but I felt I could go to the show with no problems.  There was a man sitting next to me, whose son was sick.  He kept coughing a lot during the show.  The father finally took the boy and went home.  A day or two later, I started feeling bad.  I thought it was the flu, even though I got the flu shot a few months before.  It could have been a mild form of the virus.  I don't know.  BUT, life sure changed after that. By the way, Elton postponed his show, when Covid started getting bad.  He came back a couple of years later.  I still didn't go.  Tickets were just too expensive for me.  The yellow brick road might as well have been paved with gold.  KISS was more like a black diamond. 

Lou

  James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt were coming to Columbia for a concert.  I had to go.  I knew Bonnie's music, but JT's was music that I grew up with.  "Fire and Rain" meant a lot to me as a teenager.  I identified with the lyrics.  When they announced his backup band, I got very excited.  Blue Lou Marini on sax.  He played in the original Saturday Night Live band, and he was the sax player for The Blues Brothers.  He was also in the two movies.  I had to go.

 I took the bus downtown to walk to the show.  There were several fans walking through the State House grounds toward the Arena.  When I entered the building, I went to the t-shirt table and saw one for Blue Lou.  Unfortunately, it cost more than I had.  I thought I would just buy it online later.  I never saw it online.  My seat was where I liked to sit.  Behind the soundboard and looking right at the stage.  Getting the full experience of the show without paying for the floor.

 Bonnie Raitt came on first.  She rocked her set, and folks were dancing at their seats (like me).  I was glad that they had an intermission, because my hands were sore from clapping.  Then, James Taylor took the stage as did Blue Lou.  What a thrill!  James played almost all his hits.  The show closed with "You've Got a Friend".  I cried.  That song meant the world to me.  You see?  I had very few friends growing up, until I joined Kilbourne Park Baptist Church.  Those kids were my world.  I finally had a group of friends who cared about me.  Those lyrics.  Those friends.  Everything.  

 Since the bus didn't run late at night, I had to take a cab home.  It was expensive but worth it.  I have tried to get the bus to run later into the evening, as I have noted before.  It was a great show, tears and all.

Marcus

  There was a guy I met at Oliver Gospel Mission by the name of Marcus Clinkscales.  He was my second-best friend on the street.  My first best friend was Bruce.  Both were very creative people.  I seem to gravitate toward creative people.  Marcus was a great writer, but he had issues with depression and family.  We talked about that stuff, as we had a lot in common.

 When I got off of the street, I tried to help Marcus get off too.  He couldn't hold down a job, because he would get angry easily.  He needed some form of income to get off of the street.  It was a HUD requirement.  He tried to get disability but was turned down.  He blamed the lawyer handling his case, but he really didn't have much of a case to start with.  

 Early in the morning one day, I got a call from him.  He was in a gazebo in a park.  He was threatening to kill himself.  I told him to not do it, until I could get down there.  It was pouring down rain that morning, and I took the bus downtown and then walked several blocks to where he was.  He told me that no one would help him, and it would be better if he just committed suicide.  I asked him to give me three hours, before he did it.  I called a guy, who had helped me get off of the street, to see if he could help Marcus.  Tom found Marcus and got him admitted to the hospital.  Later that morning, I called the Suicide Helpline to ask them for help for Marcus.  What could I say to him?  They gave me some good tips, and they asked me for Marcus's phone number to keep up with him.  Tom got Marcus into an apartment and into the USC Supportive Housing program.  The same one that I had been in.

 The apartment was a few miles from where I lived.  It was a short bus ride to visit him.  I tried to go to see him as often as I could.  He was also in treatment for his mental issues, but he didn't like the therapist.  Marcus was put on medication for his depression.  Unfortunately, he also drank beer.  I told him that he shouldn't drink beer, because it caused the medication not to work.  He didn't care, but he couldn't figure out why the medication didn't work.  He didn't believe me.  

 To pass the time, Marcus would write.  He was working on a screenplay about zombies.  I read some of it, but it was a little too dark for me.  He asked me to contact some of my friends in the movie business to see if anyone would be interested in his work.  No one was.  He did perform portions of his work at a couple of showcases in Columbia.  They were well received.  He got a job washing cars at a local carwash.  That helped with the HUD requirements.  

 I asked him if he would like to join my church.  He agreed to do so.  He knew a woman in the choir.  He only came to a service once, as he was kind of freaked out by the crowd.  However, he did read the Bible and was a Christian.  He was moved to another apartment in a worse neighborhood in town.  It was near a liquor store, as well as a den of drug dealers.  He kept telling me that he was coming back to church, as the new apartment was closer.  He didn't.  I contacted a church near where he lived and asked them to reach out to Marcus.  They sent someone to visit with him, and he talked with that person.  But, Marcus wanted to live his life on his own terms.  Sitting at home and drinking beer.  Writing his screenplay and wondering why the meds didn't help.  

 One day, I got a call from his case manager at USC Supportive Housing.  She told me that Marcus had died.  My immediate thought was that he had listened to the demons and killed himself.  I found out later that Marcus had a clot in his lung and had a pulmonary embolism while walking on the sidewalk near Providence Hospital.  Somebody found him and rushed him to the hospital, but he was gone.  His case manager called his family, who lived out of town.  I called the church to see if they could set up a memorial service.  It all came together.  

 Marcus had an infectious laugh.  He wrote a song about me that I hated, but he would sing it anyway.  He had a creative soul.  He was one of a kind.  

Harbison

  There is perhaps a little-known gem in the Columbia area.  It is the Harbison Theatre on the campus of Midlands Tech in Irmo.  It is a relatively small place, maybe 200 or so seats.  The intimacy of the place provides a close-up view of the stage.  The front row is almost right on the stage.  

 I had heard that a traveling group from Second City in Chicago would be performing.  If you are not familiar with Second City, it is the premier improvisational group in the country.  Many performers on Saturday Night Live came from Second City including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Aidy Bryant and more.  The group coming to Columbia was not as famous as those, but they might be one day.  Back in 1975, I directed an improvisational group at PC as part of my Senior project.  The concept was not well known back then, but it has come into its own now.

 I took the bus to Walmart in Harbison, which was the last stop on the route.  I had to walk the rest of the way to the theatre, which was about a 45-minute walk with very little sidewalks and a lot of uphill challenges.  Due to my breathing issues, I have a hard time with walking uphill.  I was determined to get there.  I was sitting on the second row and scared that they would ask for audience participation.  In the Theatre, there is an old adage that you are only as good as your last role.  My last role had been eight years before.  I thoroughly enjoyed this group of young actors.  They put on a great show.

 Now for another confession.  I like to go to concerts at night.  One of the things I did, when working with the Comet bus system, was getting them to run buses until midnight.  The defense was to get workers to third-shift jobs.  My ulterior motive was to go to night events.  They put the late-night run in for some routes, including mine, so I was able to take the 45-minute walk from the theatre back to Walmart and get my bus to take me home.  After all, a cab ride would have been close to $30.  

 The next show I went to there was pretty close to Heaven.  Two acts from New Orleans and one from Alabama.  Irma Thomas, the New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama.  What a magical night.  By now, the Comet had discontinued the late-night run due to lack of ridership.  I had to catch a ride with a friend back home.  However, I proposed a new route for the Comet.  Service to the Harbison Midlands Tech.  So, if I ever wanted to go to that theatre again, I could.  Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and performances were cut.  Of course, my motive for that route also included Parkridge Hospital, Riverland Hills Baptist Church, and Frankie's Fun Park.  It would be great if more people would ride that route, but it is there for those who want it.

Frampton

  I always liked Peter Frampton, ever since his album "Frampton Comes Alive" came out in the late 70's.  We sold that album at Sanger-Harris in Ft. Worth, where I worked.  Mostly to teenage girls.  We couldn't keep it in the store.  

 When I saw he was coming to Columbia in 2018 with Steve Miller, I just HAD to go.  I know this might anger some, but I really didn't care about Steve Miller.  I like some of his songs.  In fact, I used to sing them in the car a lot.  But, I was going to see Peter Frampton.

 It was a rather warm day.  I was walking from the library over to the arena, when I started to feel I was getting overheated.  As you know, that is a problem with me.  I stopped in Panera on Gervais St. to get cool.  I wasn't going to buy anything, so I went into their restroom.  After putting a little water on my face, I headed on down the sidewalk to the arena.

 The venue was almost filled.  Peter was the opening act.  He was great.  I sang along with him on most of the songs.  My seat was right behind the soundboard.  I like sitting there, because I get the full effect.  It is better than the floor, where everybody stands up during the show.  It is also better than a seat I had to see Paul McCartney which was at the side of the stage.  

 After he finished his set, I looked at my watch and thought I needed to catch the last bus back home.  I left before Steve Miller came onstage.  I found out later that Frampton jammed with Miller during his set.  Oh well.  I got back home with a wonderful feeling.  Peter Frampton is the best.