So I get home this evening, drop into a chair and check the mail.
No I don’t need another credit card. One envelope hits trash.
Scientology has been writing me for 10 years, and I haven’t responded once, guess they have a lot to spend on postage.  One more envelope and a brochure hits the round file.
Here’s a check from one of the credit card companies - write yourself a good time Frances - the interest will be low the payments forever.  Request denied.
Now what to do?
Maybe an iced chai and a writing session on my NEO?  Yes, that’s just what I need.
Within seconds I’m back out the door.
The night air is cool, so I stand on the stoop for a few minutes enjoying it.
A well-dressed man walks up to me.
“Do you live or work in this building?”
“I live here.”
Figured he was going to ask if I knew of an available apartment. Every other person in Manhattan needs an apartment.
“Would you care to get high with me?”
“I’m waiting for my husband.  Thanks for the invitation.”
“Here’s my bus.”
“Enjoy your ride.”
Welcome to my life.
Okay now the question is do I look like someone who wants to get high?
Maybe I looked desperate for a caffeine high, and he mistook it for something else.
Had he not had a bus to catch I might have questioned him on this, but left pretty quickly.
Well, one thing is for sure he did jumpstart this entry.
Right now I am sitting here sipping chai at one of the many Starbucks here on the Upper West Side.
Every other new business that opens up here on the Upper West Side is either a Starbucks, Duane Reade, Rite Aid, CVS or a bank.  We have a bank on every other block in this town.  The city is filled with people opening bank accounts, buying shampoo and drinking 5 dollar coffees.  Yet homeless people sleep on every available bench and set of church steps at night. 
When I was a kid you’d see winos and the old bag ladies here and there, but now you see lots of young people out on the sidewalk. It’s a sad situation.
Sometimes I ask the young ones questions because I want to know why they are there.  They’ll answer too, if you have a dollar in your hand while you’re asking.
I remember being in Union Square Park last summer, when a blonde teen-age boy approached me.  He was scruffy with hungry eyes.  Before I relinquished my buck he told me his mother had kicked him out in favor of a boyfriend.  A lot of kids leave home when mom gets a boyfriend.  It breaks my heart.  Sometimes I feel like calling their moms up and saying, “Your 17 year old is here on the street.  Your boyfriend is probably drinking a beer on your sofa.  Why?”
It’s not that I want to deny single moms boyfriends, but their kids are in the street.  I want to know if they are actively searching for them. 
Then I start thinking of how cool it would be if I could open up a big place somewhere and give these kids a place to live.
Speaking of dreams you know what I’d love to do one day?
I’d love to open up a free center where anyone could come learn and use the Internet for free.
If it were up to me the whole country would have free high speed and free computers to use.
Can you imagine the writing and art we would have access to if everyone could get in on the power of the Internet?
This post has gone all over the place.
I mean I started off telling you about my mail.
So what’s going on with all of you?