Rick's Lesson #16 :Don't take food from poor children and their families. (678 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.16 on 32 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Wildcat (View user info) at 2006-08-23 13:52:53 EDT
Four weeks ago I stepped out of my nonsocial shell and decided I was done with being a depressing little cunt. Well, that was my intention anyway.
The usual escape I'd found was drinking, video games, watching Fight Club or enjoying some good old fashioned internet porn. (meatholes.com isn't too bad, fucked up, but not bad)
So, with little thought about what I was getting myself into I decided to start volunteering some of my spare time at a homeless shelter. I can't give the name of the place but I can guaran-damn-tee that the place is NOT in a decent part of town. Hell, it's not even in a decent town.
The first couple of days were filled with more awkward moments than I could possibly count. Apart from a certain homeless man using medical rubber tubing as a pair of suspenders and another homeless fellow flipping out and taking a shit on our front porch because we couldn't let him in because he was obviously drunk, it's been great.
Then there's Rick. Rick is an ex-marine, ex-con, ex-crackhead. Rick is also a 6 foot tall black man from Georgia. He's employed full time with the agency that runs the shelter and pretty much dedicates his time to, and I fucking quote, "Getting my Black brothas and sistas out of the grip of the Devil and into the salvation of Jesus and his righteous words of savior!"
Rick has seen more shit than anyone I've ever met. He was in Iraq the first time around and did and saw some things that changed his life. When he came home and finished out his time teaching hand to hand, he started drinking. After the booze came more booze and then eventually he was beating people up and taking their money. He did all the beatings while drunk and high on crack. He's been shot 5 times: 3 times on foreign soil and 2 times here during his crime spree. After getting in a fist fight with an undercover cop that was selling drugs and that he planned on robbing, he spent the next 7 years in a Virginia state prison. In prison he found Jesus..... and a gang-style beating/almost rape. This changed his life, which he now dedicates to homeless people and drug addicts.
I know his story because he told me every gruesome detail, using a mop handle while we worked to emphasize an M16, a tussle with a druggie or a prison penis on my first day there. His presence and the way he speaks just demands one's attention. Me being a white kid never having seen the world or even the darker world of homelessness, prostitution and drugs, I've been hooked. I listen to every story he tells and gather every bit of advice he can possibly give. The man just has this fierce power that I wish I could harness for myself.
Then the shit hit the fan last night.
Once a month the shelter has a pseudo-fancy spaghetti dinner for the homeless. The local poor people are welcome to come as well. Usually the meals are held inside in our cafeteria but since it's summer time and some of these people will be walking in from various sections of town, Rick decided it would be best to set up tables outside so some of the children could play in the playground without making their parents leave dinner early.
The tables were set, the grape juice in place of the wine was chilled and all of the pots of food were brought out so the volunteers could begin serving. I'm standing at the noodle pot and dumping piles of spaghetti on each persons plate as they shuffle down the serving line. Rick is next to me handing paper plates and packets of silverware to each person. He's telling me about how one of the regulars that comes to the shelter passed away just the other day. Since I only come 3 or so times a week he feels the need to fill me in on the scuttlebutt of the shelter.
That's when a champagne colored Cadillac pulls up in the parking lot across the street. A well dressed black guy in his early to mid 30's steps out. His girlfriend, or whatever she was, gets out from her side of the car and then they meet at the front of the car and make their way across the street toward us. Now, this wasn't a new Cadillac. It was probably a 2004 model. You know, nothing overly nice. Ok, that's enough sarcasm.
"Ah shiiiiiiit. Spaghetti and meatballs! That's what a mufucka's talkin' 'bout!", The black guy said as he swankered over the sidewalk and into our lot.
Now I'm not sure if it was the guy's demeanor or the fact that he walked through the mulched and manicured flower bed Rick and some of the other tenants at the shelter had worked hard on, but I know for a fact that I saw Rick twitch a little.
*Note: As cliched as it sounds, Rick, a black man, really hates niggers. He tells me and the other volunteers all the time. I suppose it's a character flaw. I'm sure Jesus will understand.
"Sir, this meal is for the indigent and needy.", Rick says rather matter-of-factly, rather white-ly too I might add.
"I'm broker than a mufucka, yo!" He says with a smile.
As the man reaches for the plate Rick pulls his hand back and says, "We're done serving, sir. I need you to leave now."
"I be sayin' I'm poor, nigga! Gimme some food! Shiiiiiit." The stranger says, looking back with a what-the-fuck look to his girlfriend.
Rick pulled his shoulders back and stood as upright as he could, "We ain't servin' you. Get going."
At this, the guy made the biggest mistake in his life. See, Rick and the other full time employees at the shelter deal with crackheads and fucked up people all day. They know how to deal with some bullshit. But when someone reaches in their pocket when you're telling them to leave and the entire local poor community is staring at this man's Cadillac, you feel a little pressure. In Rick's defense, the guy was obviously not poor and was basically taking food from poor children's mouths.
Now, what I would have liked to see was the guy walk away. What actually happened looked more like a huge black man still sporting a high and tight from his Marine days pushing over a table to get to some asshole reaching in his pocket for something. It also looked like this same agitated ex-Marine Judo threw the asshole half way across the parking lot and tied his hands behind his back, Rodeo style, with belt.
However, what I told the Cops I saw was more along the lines of, "Well, sir, um......nothing really."
Rick's Lesson #16 :Don't take food from poor children and their families.
As it turns out, the guy was reaching for his car keys. What an asshole.
User Reviews
Submitted by Bushy (user info) at 2006-08-23 23:44:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
good story, but i thought the ending just petered out a bit. like you got bored with writing just as you reached the climax.
I also had Rick pictured as the guy from green mile, you know, that massive black dude, not tom hanks. although now i think about it, a dude that big isn't getting raped in prison, gang raped maybe, but not *just* raped.
Submitted by Sockster (user info) at 2006-08-23 22:29:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Mmmm.
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-23 22:29:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 19:29:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Rick's a fag.
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2006-08-23 19:11:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good read it is.
Submitted by sideshow (user info) at 2006-08-23 17:01:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Pretty good story
Submitted by WildcatMcGee (user info) at 2006-08-23 16:08:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Rick told me that they get people like that every once in awhile. In fact, an elderly couple came once thinking it was a neighborhood cook out and had brought potato salad and drinks. Rick, being the decent guy he is, put their food on the table for everyone to share and let them eat. It was nice to see that but disheartening to know that some people will try to cheat others in need just so they can save a few bucks before they go clubbing.
Submitted by ubetidid (user info) at 2006-08-23 15:58:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
lessons to live by, man.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-08-23 15:58:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I wouldn't have seen anything either - damn.
Why on earth would that guy show up there, that can't be his way of a night out on the town.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-08-23 15:54:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:09:47 (#)
Ranking: -2
So's Wildcat.
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Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:08:51 (#)
Ranking: -2
Bob's gay don't mind him
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You're BOTH a big bunch of fags - happy now, dipshits?
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-08-23 15:12:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Jesus will understand.
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:31:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
For BAMF
http://www.ubersite.com/m/92173
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:29:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by ilikesteak (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:14:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked it.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:14:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I like Lidstrom and I can't say that the Wings won't make the playoffs but I don't see them as a threat this year...
I"m in the mood for hockey...Bob make a hockey post and we'll camp there.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:12:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
The Dead Wings have a 40+year old goaltender. Enough said.
Submitted by alwayspeach1 (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:12:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked it.
It was interesting.
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:11:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
In other news, Nick Lindstrom is the new captaion of the red wings...
I can believe he went in the 3rd round. I hope 20 teams fired their GMs after that debacle...
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:10:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
DAMMIT, forgot to rate.
Is there rules 1-15 cause i would like to know them too
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:09:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:07:29 (#)
Ranking: -2
does this go off the front page it only Shlongy and I rate it?
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Nope, you need 10 unique raters with a rating of -1 or lower i believe...
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:09:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
So's Wildcat.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:08:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Bob's gay don't mind him
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:08:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
it probably will due to the rating you're giving him.
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:08:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I enjoyed it...
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:07:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
does this go off the front page it only Shlongy and I rate it?
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:06:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
PS. I didn't read it either!
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:05:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Why do you bother?
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:05:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
i typed it in word first just to make sure.
Submitted by WildcatMcGee (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:05:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
At least you spelled it right.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:04:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
my prerogative
Submitted by WildcatMcGee (user info) at 2006-08-23 14:00:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Then don't rate, cocksucker.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-08-23 13:57:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
didn't read it