This Man is so sick and tired of all the crackheads that have taken to lounging inside and in front of Jack in the Box (804 University Ave.) in Hillcrest. I'm not talking about the couture crackheads in 7 jeans & Juicy Couture tee shirts (oh wait, that's what This Man is wearing). This Man is referring to the ones, wearing bathrobes over sweatpants, wool blankets over flannel and the ones that have the faintest idea of the powers of a warm shower.

This afternoon, when I was out strolling to Chipotle for tacos, I passed a young woman hunched over in the parking lot of said restaurant. She looked a mess and the only thing missing was the warm crackpipe, which I'm sure was in her pocket. And seeing as I'm one to comfront problems dead on, rather than divert my eyes as I'm sure other guys in Hillcrest do, I glared at her dead on. When our eyes locked that's when she asked her opening question.
"Hey man, you got any change you could spare?"
"Absolutely not." I told her but rather than increase my stride--I actually slowed down.
"Awww, that's fucked up." She countered with.
"No it's not and you're not about to sit here and make me feel guilty for your problems. I refuse to be a part of that." Can you believe it when I tell you that This Man actually smiled at her.
"Fuck you then, faggot!"
Well, I suppose I kind of had that coming, but This Man sure as hell didn't deserve it. And yeah, I was tempted to keep on arguing with her, but really what would be the point. But it got me to thinking, at any given time in the day, you could come to that Jack restaurant and see a parade of crackheads in the parking lot and inside. What's baffling to me is there are some of them that are actually couples. I mean, I can't find a man to deal with me and smoking but these fuckers have managed to find a partner who could not only deal with their crack habit, but manage to tolerate their own!
How fucked up is that?!
So over time, This Man has learned that whenever the urge to have a Ciabatta burger arises or the jones for an Oreo cookie shake (mmmm, Oreo cookie shake) the last Jack in the Box that I even think to go to is the one in Hillcrest. Now if I'm in the mood for a good laugh say like watching two dope fiends fight over who lost the spoon or who broke the pipe then by all means I'm there!

Mahalo

(fuzzy photo courtesy of the damned camera phone--UGH!)