As they idled in traffic, Gaby, Lois and Sweet Pea (left to right) did their best to pretend that the car door had not fallen off their vehicle, because to acknowledge such would take the spotlight off their expensive couture, and we couldn’t have that. The ease with which they assumed feigned indifference to the things happening around them, a trait which had been bred into their families after generations of affluence and the original concept of social-distancing, was counterbalanced by the sudden appearance of a man at the door that was no longer there.
Man: “Hello.”
Gaby: “Driver! There’s a homeless man trying to accost us! I specifically told you to drive on streets that didn’t have such.”
Man: “I’m not homeless. Not that it means I’m better than anyone who is.”
Lois: “Well, you’re walking when you could be riding, so that means you don’t have any money. Someone hide my jewels. I knew we should have moved out of this wretched town when the city council started funding free health clinics.”
Man: “I don’t want your jewels. There are more important things in life.”
Sweet Pea: “I can’t imagine you’re on the guest list for anything that we would attend so I don’t know why you’re here.”
Man: “I was simply going to ask if you needed any assistance with this door lying in the street. The paint color matches, so I’m assuming it’s yours. And none of you look like you’ve ever handled a lug nut in your life.”
Lois: “Oh. Well, I hadn’t really noticed that there was an issue. But what do you expect to get out of it?”
Man: “I’m not expecting anything. When I see somebody in need, I try to help.”
Gaby: “In need? Do you even know who we are?”
Man: “It doesn’t matter who you are. Everybody needs help from time to time.”
Sweet Pea: “I don’t believe you, Fake Homeless Man created by the Fake Media. We were just at the Republican National Convention, and they warned us about people like you who are trying to make life better for everybody. True Americans only look out for themselves. You need to leave us alone or I’ll scream that you’re waging a war on religion.”
Man, sighing, because it wasn’t the first time he had encountered voters who were wrong about what’s right: “Okay, then. I’ll just keep moving. But someday I hope you’ll realize that divisiveness is not the answer to anything.”
Then Jimmy Carter turned and walked away.
Previously published. Some changes made for this post.
Categories: Past Imperfect
Bonnywood Manor 
Great post 😁
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Thank you!
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I still get angry and have flashbacks to 6th grade Social Studies class and watching Ronnie getting sworn in… taking credit for the release of the hostages…🤬
I lived near military housing and a few of the hostages lived in that neighborhood. It was personal to 12 year old me. Jimmy Carter did SO much. More after he left office.
I’m doing that ranty thing in your comments again…🙊🤐😘
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I still get angry as well for a lot of Ronnie’s actions, even more so when so many people seem to look back fondly on his administration. He may have had some charisma, but he did some terrible things, too many to get into in a comment, but first and foremost is that he looked the other way as a virus took the lives of many Americans. (Sound familiar?)
And yes, Jimmy was and is an excellent human being, and his actions prove it to this day…
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Oh Brian. That malignant narcissist contaminating your top office is infecting your country with a paranoid dogma that may have much worse consequences than covid. Stay strong, my friend.
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You’re exactly right. We will resolve this covid nightmare at some point, but it may take decades to repair the damage Trump has done to American society…
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Lois’s body language is mimicking our Cheeto in Chief’s, methinks she groped that non homeless homeless man.
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Then she had the gall to claim that it wasn’t HER voice on the recording of the groping, and she sued the homeless man for her actions…
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Typical.
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Great one, Brian.
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Thanks, Margo. (Good to hear from you!)
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So totally Jimmy Carter. He is a good man with a good heart, as you suggest. What a distance the American people have traveled since the Carter presidency…
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Despite seeing hard evidence of it every day, it still baffles me how we regressed from the decency of Carter to the abomination of Trump. Progress? What progress?
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Where is Jimmy? Although his presidency, as such, wasn’t an outstanding, ‘in your face’ one (and even if it had been, President Carter was too humble I suspect to want the lime light) ; his actions since he left the oval arena have been exemplary. In my opinion. He’s what we all might strive to achieve as we age. T-dump could take a leaf or two from Carter’s book. Wait. Silly me. That’s assuming the Orange Menace can READ. He certainly can’t learn.
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I’m completely on the same page. Carter moved (and continues to do so) with a grace that has never been anywhere near the wheelhouse of Cheeto. It would be easy to blame it all on the Orange Dust, but he didn’t get to the White House on his own. And that’s the saddest part…
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Your ability to take a photo that for the rest of us is completely innocuous and turn it into something of substance and purpose, frankly, delights me to no end. It is why I first set anchor on your shore and why I’ve never left. ❤️
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As always, you manage to say the exact words I hope to hear…
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Jimmy Carter, one of the most underrated humans of our time.
Can you imagine if american history followed a different path. One where a 3 term Carter was followed by a 3 term Obama…I know the years don’t add up…but still…Strength through Compassion and Commitment to Community. ok this apple box is worn out…
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No, your apple box is never worn out. I understand completely what you’re saying. If only people would be decent and expect decency of others…
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I admire your self control letting that lug nut comment go untouched. Lol
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Well, I should confess that said self-control was not quite as evident in the original drafts of this post. We tinker and we soften… 😉
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