Living Rough - Part 1

Makes me chuckle when I hear folks talking about living rough; heck some of them think that not having HD3D is living rough! Well, let me tell you a little story about a young fellow I know who truly lived rough He's a good young fellow, always has a smile on his face, he's never done a bad deed to anyone in his life, just wants to be accepted and fit in like most folks do, well like some folks do, anyways Well sir, my friend Simon was abandoned by his family and left to fend for himself on the mean streets of Pine Ridge, where he developed a serious 'jones' for Tim Horton's coffee with extra cream and extra sugar Now, you might think Pine Ridge sounds like a pretty soft place to live out there in beautiful British Columbia, with a Tim Horton's and all, but it ain't a place for the weak and vulnerable, let me tell you There's all kinds of folks in Pine Ridge; homeless people, people with addictions and mental health issues, criminals, some of them living right out there on the streets or in one of them rehab centers or shelters They get off the meth or crack or booze in 30 days and then they're back on the street hanging around the Sally Ann on the Abbey bypass, mooching from the boys headed for the bar in the old Pine Ridge Hotel Some of them old boys headed to the bar used to be their friends, or maybe even cousins or brothers; Pine Ridge ain't that big of a place, so everyone pretty much knows everyone, if you know what I mean Anyways, the old boys drop a buck or two in their old buddy's dirty hand; they're going to use their bank card or credit card when they get to the bar anyways, so may as well get the pockets lighter before they go Then their old buddies up and stroll right across the highway, pissing off folks who're just trying to drive through town and now they have to dodge a bunch of no good, damned derelicts who can't even use the crosswalk Then they get to the Tim's and stand in line with the soccer moms and retired folks getting their yogurts and paninis and lattes and when it's their turn, they get an extra large with six sugars, if they're just clean, that is ...continued in part 2