- Joined
- Jun 2, 2003
- Messages
- 23,587
Alright, by now I get the impression I said she was lying half-comatose in front of my door, begging for alms. Let's not go overboard here and realistically assess the situation:
1. She pays rent for her apartment. I doubt it's under $1000 per month, even if she's been in there for 15 years, which she has as far as I know. If she were not paying, she'd be out in no time.
2. She's low on cash and has decided to find support from neighbors and on the bus. I barely ever take the bus, but I have seen her ask strangers for money.
3. She does not talk about her familiy, in fact she doesn't talk about anything but her lack of being able to pay for meds, food, and rent. She is not interested in talking about anything else.
4. Her son is essentially absent and seemingly no help.
5. Maybe once a month I see her get a ride from soemone from her church (I think), and she gets a few shopping bags with groceries.
6. She is not bed-ridden, is up and about and gets around on foot on by bus. She sees her doctor on a regular basis. If anyone can asses her mental ability and judge if she is capable of living by herself, then it's he. To me she seems to be somewhat senile or maybe she has a touch of Alzheimer, but she's certainly not a physical wreck. She does get increasingly worse, though.
7. This isn't about me. Whether I'm a nice guy or a jerk is not the issue. What I do not want to do is interfering with her life by calling social services on her! I don't see her in immediate danger, fer chrissakes.
Not sure what's up with my neighbors. A few days ago I found one of my other neighbors, an 81 year old, passed-out next to the mailbox. While I was waiting for the paramedics to arrive, he woke up and kept telling me he wanted "to go home." Which is 2 floors up. When I said it was too dangerous and he had to stay put until the paramedics would arrive he got very agitated and began, I kid you not! crawling in direction of the stairs. He wouldn't listen and literally started whailing and crawling on all fours. Faced with whether to restrain him or to help him, I dragged him 2 floors up to his apartment and onto his sofa. Another neighbor, who refused to do anything, kept saying what a libility touching this guy was. Well, I said, he won't stay put and I can't let him drag himself in by his own teeh, can I? You should have seen the scene he, the old guy, not the jerk neighbor, made when the paramedics arrived. "Who are all those people? Get out of here!" After checking him out, they took him to the hospital for observation. The next day he was already back home. At least he has a son who checks on him every day. The son also showed up right away when I called him.
This was my Labor Day weekend. I know it all must sound pretty absurd and bizarre to you. I half expect that some crazy dry cleaning SNAFU will leave me wandering the streets of Frisco dressed as Catwoman.
1. She pays rent for her apartment. I doubt it's under $1000 per month, even if she's been in there for 15 years, which she has as far as I know. If she were not paying, she'd be out in no time.
2. She's low on cash and has decided to find support from neighbors and on the bus. I barely ever take the bus, but I have seen her ask strangers for money.
3. She does not talk about her familiy, in fact she doesn't talk about anything but her lack of being able to pay for meds, food, and rent. She is not interested in talking about anything else.
4. Her son is essentially absent and seemingly no help.
5. Maybe once a month I see her get a ride from soemone from her church (I think), and she gets a few shopping bags with groceries.
6. She is not bed-ridden, is up and about and gets around on foot on by bus. She sees her doctor on a regular basis. If anyone can asses her mental ability and judge if she is capable of living by herself, then it's he. To me she seems to be somewhat senile or maybe she has a touch of Alzheimer, but she's certainly not a physical wreck. She does get increasingly worse, though.
7. This isn't about me. Whether I'm a nice guy or a jerk is not the issue. What I do not want to do is interfering with her life by calling social services on her! I don't see her in immediate danger, fer chrissakes.
Not sure what's up with my neighbors. A few days ago I found one of my other neighbors, an 81 year old, passed-out next to the mailbox. While I was waiting for the paramedics to arrive, he woke up and kept telling me he wanted "to go home." Which is 2 floors up. When I said it was too dangerous and he had to stay put until the paramedics would arrive he got very agitated and began, I kid you not! crawling in direction of the stairs. He wouldn't listen and literally started whailing and crawling on all fours. Faced with whether to restrain him or to help him, I dragged him 2 floors up to his apartment and onto his sofa. Another neighbor, who refused to do anything, kept saying what a libility touching this guy was. Well, I said, he won't stay put and I can't let him drag himself in by his own teeh, can I? You should have seen the scene he, the old guy, not the jerk neighbor, made when the paramedics arrived. "Who are all those people? Get out of here!" After checking him out, they took him to the hospital for observation. The next day he was already back home. At least he has a son who checks on him every day. The son also showed up right away when I called him.
This was my Labor Day weekend. I know it all must sound pretty absurd and bizarre to you. I half expect that some crazy dry cleaning SNAFU will leave me wandering the streets of Frisco dressed as Catwoman.
