Maybe he needed some extra money but sometimes I have to put by foot down.
Ken said he was watching this guy with his little cart going from house to house on our block and going up into the yards looking for the recycling bins. He then would proceed to go through them for cans and bottles. Our neighborhood isn’t any stranger to the scrounging practice. We have had seasoned professionals scouring trash days for all forms of aluminum and glass with tricked out shopping carts. Mostly those guys come around at around 4 in the morning, digging through the cans, leaving messes and barking dogs. I have chased off many of those as I am heading out in the morning for work. None of them seem particularly menacing. I am not even sure how many of them are homeless. This is just that extra couple of bucks they get from peoples’ trash.
I know I should probably feel more kindly towards them. I do feel for them when it does in fact look like a couple of cans might mean the difference between dinner or nothing that night. But so many of them don’t fall into this category. They are arrogant and rude and act entitled to the recycled materials that people have been good enough to separate out for the city. Yes, our city, you know, the one that seems to have no money for anything? The cities residing in California, our debt filled state that keeps cutting things like education because of our lack of funds? Look, no offense to the guys trying to make a couple extra bucks off my dime, but my primary concern is making sure the school my boys attend is as well funded as possible.
For these guys now to take it to a new level of brazen assholery is what drove me nuts yesterday afternoon. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Kids out and playing, people just arriving home from a long hard day of work. This guy was then going into yards. He was violating the very sanctity of our being by rummaging not only through our bins, but doing it on our property!
Sympathies aside, I have to put a stop to that. I ran out of the house pissed! I saw him going across the street and up into Maria’s bins. I yelled at him. He was this little Asian man who spun around. He was incredibly apologetic, but I didn’t see him backing down. He was ready to go to the next house! What the fuck, buddy?!?!? I followed him a bit, yelling at him the whole time. He kept apologizing, walking a little faster, but still clearly looking to see when he could resume.
Bobby came out asking questions, so my concern was to then get him back in the house to finish his homework. Ken took over the following for me, and he ended up tailing him all the way back to his house, complete with my camera in order to take pictures of the guy. The guy was sufficiently freaked out, especially after Ken got on the phone with the intent of calling the cops. Turned out the guy only spoke Korean. So Ken used the Google translator on his phone to tell the guy that the cops were in route. He was freaked! Ken pretended to speak to authorities and “convinced” the officers on the phone that the guy said he would never do it again. I am pretty sure Ken took a few years off this guy’s life from fear.
Is it nice? No. Is it right? Maybe not. But honestly, I feel like if this is my home, and I don’t just mean my house, I want it to be as nice as it can be. That means no guys racing motorcycles or digging through trash cans. I don’t want my kids in a place that isn’t safe.
Dax was super thrilled when yesterday he managed to not have his name turned and he got to go in the treasure chest. I was very happy for him. Mr. Williams told me he had a much better day. He apparently didn’t hang out with Tristan at all. I feel really bad for Tristan as we found out that Mr. Williams also had to speak to his mother about not doing Tristan’s homework for him. This mom is not doing this child any favors.
In reality, Mr. Williams should probably not have told us that information, but for some reason, the teachers seem to divulge information pretty freely. I don’t know if that is something they do with everyone, or a choice few that don’t seem to judge. Like I told Mr. Williams, I think Tristan could go far in life. He is bright and has a good heart. But if his mother is doing his homework for him, and somehow not putting a stop to his behavior problems, then she is not helping him. Of course, I also know I can’t blame her on all of it. Shoot, no matter how good a mom you are, sometimes a kid has things they do that are hard to stop. I just hope she is really taking the time to find out what is up with her kid and see why he is doing what he does.
When we went to get the bikes, Bobby discovered Ms. Jenkins ball basket, so he and I went to return it. I was glad we did for a number of reasons. One, I was concerned we were missing a homework sheet, and two, Bobby was very worried that the basket would be lost since apparently it was brand new. She was pleased, and told me that she was aware of the missing page and that it was no biggie. She also enlisted my help to take home the homework packets for next week to get them stapled. I was more than happy to help, especially since it was a perfect way to sit in the playroom with the boys while they had homework.
We went up to the store after school so I could make a deposit. We also had a few things we ended up picking up. This was not the first time getting groceries on the bikes of course. This was, however, the first time we loaded up my bike with so many! Ken didn’t think it would work. I assured him I could handle it. Sure enough, it was fine! It was a heavy load for sure, but I was happy to do it. I am considering getting the saddle bags or basket in the back just for additional room.
I think I get my new computer here at work today, so I am all kinds of jazzed.
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