Bag Lady Part II

There are those we judge in society, for so many things, and perhaps the one's we judge most are the one's we are afraid of becoming - or the one's we are jealous of.

I have been, more than once in my life, without a home. Not for many years, thankfully.

Having little family to speak of, my life was often one or two mishaps away from falling between the cracks. There was, I thought, no safety net for me. I never took money, save scholarships, from public institutions. And I have been employed, in one manner or another since I was 8 years old.

Still, with all that bootstrapping hard work, I have been without a home as a child and as an adult. Never did I beg. Never did I steal. And never was I on the street for long before some kindness was disposed upon me and I was given shelter until I could get my feet under me again. And, because of my vantage point on the world, I came away with some amazing stories.

I know, and have seen that people are, overwhelmingly, unerringly kind, almost all of the time.

And when they are not, I generally trust that they have been hurt in some indelible way.

The other day a co-worker of mine asked me to quick, think of a prank she could pull on a third co-worker. It was not mean spirited, but I had to tell her that my imagination just didn't run in that direction.

I don't do funny, at least I try not to do it at other people's expense.

But I do hope.

I do hope in spades.