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It’s a Jungle Out There
When I moved from Florida to Seattle, one of the things that shocked me the most was the number of homeless people in this city. You’d think that Florida would have cornered the market on the homeless because the weather is so much warmer, but apparently not. I have no idea why that is. Here…
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Operation Sack Lunch
It was nearly 1 o’clock, and people were already starting to line up across the street from Seattle Municipal Tower, arguably the main hub of administration and influence in the city. These people in line, however, had no power or influence. In fact, most of polite society tries desperately to ignore their existence. They are…
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Warped Perspectives
It’s a cold, rainy day here in Seattle, and I’m sitting here at work, grateful for the fact that I’m being paid to be someplace warm and dry. Being perched high up in a drawbridge tower, I have the unique opportunity to observe people without them even knowing I’m here. That means I often get…
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One Year Ago Today
I remember exactly what I was doing on this day in 2014, because I had just arrived in Seattle after having driven all the way across the country from Florida. I was in a weird place mentally. I was excited about my future. I was shocked that I had actually pulled this relocation off. And…
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The REAL Sword of Damocles
Most of us are sort of familiar with this Greek story. The sword represents peril. It hangs by a single horse hair over Damocles’ head. All well and good. But the moral of the story is actually that people in positions of power can never rest easy in spite of their luxurious lives. They have…
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Under my Umbrella… ella… ella…
One thing you can’t get away from in Seattle is beggars at stop lights. It breaks my heart because I want to help them, but I can barely help myself. And even if I could afford to help, there are just so many of them, so who do I choose? And which ones would spend…
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Shield Man
Not far from one of the bridges where I work is an abandoned building covered with graffiti. A homeless guy is squatting in one of the sheds on the property. He likes to carry a bright pink shield that he seems to have fashioned out of scrap wood, duct tape and a plastic bag. He…
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Money Well Spent?
Someone just bought the bike from the film Easy Rider for 1.35 million dollars. Stuff like this makes me want to scream. For a little bit of perspective, I did some research. Here’s what I found out. 1.35 million dollars equals any one of the following: 54,000 microloans on Kiva.org, which in turn would allow…
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Washington’s Mental State
Since I bragged about Washington yesterday, it seems only fair that I air out a little of its dirty laundry today. One of the most shocking and unexpected things I’ve discovered about this state is the unbelievably high number of mentally disturbed people wandering the streets. On an average commute to work, I will see…
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On Looking Homeless
My late boyfriend had brain surgery about 25 years ago. Because of this, a big section of the back of his skull was missing, and his face was lopsided. To mask these things a little bit, he grew his hair long and wore a beard. I thought he was absolutely gorgeous. Certainly the best looking…