The Acts Of Humanity

I really like getting out of the valley every chance I get. It seems the farther I venture, the less stress I have. I think most of what's around me seems to be bad memories. Or just, reminds of something I should remember. It's frustrating.

I went out to an L.A. Fitness in Stevenson Ranch area. This one had a hot tub and a sauna. I really like the stairclimbers there, and there are middle aged women with boob jobs. So that's good scenery. It's near a location I'd shot my short film. Nice mountainous view. There's a Starbucks I hole up in. I got my cup of coffee and planted myself to blog. When I looked up from my table, I notice an older lady with a ruddy complexion. Her hair was stringy, face aged by the elements, and bulged eyes of...substance abuse? You don't see too many homeless this far in the canyons. She was pleasant enough, and was speaking into a disposable phone. She was frustrated by the phone crashing on her and asked me if I knew anything about phones. I'm really not technical in that sense. I saw the frozen screen, and told her to just remove the battery to reset.
"That what it do?"
"I think so. You remove the battery and it will reset itself. I think."
She laughed. "yes, that's usually what I do."
I smiled back "hopefully that works"
"Do you know where we are? Which Starbucks?"
I was taken back by this question. How do you not know where you are.
"I think it's...Valencia." I was so startled I forgot it was actually Stevenson Ranch. She said "Stevenson Ranch Starbucks" to the person on the other end of the line.
"Excuse me?" A late 40's woman had interrupted this exchange.
"Yes" the homeless lady chimed up.
"Do you want a cup of coffee or something?"
The homeless lady smiled. Kindness. Very foreign seemed to have surprised her. And to be honest, me.
"Oh no thank you. Thank you though." The lady smiled. "Let me know if you do."
It never occurred to me to even offer. In a sense I guess it would be considered rude to assume someone is homeless and needs assistance. But she turned her down. The lady left. And it was me and the homeless lady again.
At this time, a big dude and a little girl walked in. He looked over at the homeless lady "Excuse me. Do you want a cup of coffee?"
I had to do a double take. Deja Vu.
Yep, he too offered something hot to drink. At this point I felt shitty I didn't offer.
To my surprise, this time she took the guy up on his offer. He continued "You need something to eat too? Here I'll get you something." He went into line with his daughter in tow.
They came back with a hot cup of coffee and a pastry. "You got some place to stay tonight. Somewhere warm?" She said "yes" but felt she was lying. She thanked them but declined any other offer. They chit-chatted for a while. The man knew what it was like to be homeless down near the South Bay. He looked like a longshoresman. Brawny standing next to his little girl. His girl said hi to the homeless lady. Charming. And a fantastic lesson in humanity. Something that sunk in with me as well.
The two left. And it was just me and the homeless lady again.
A few minutes later, a barista came by with a large cup of coffee "here, ma'am, you look like you needed something warm." And slid the cup in front of her. The fuck is going on here?

She smiled and accepted the cup. Now she was with two large cups of coffee.
She turned to me, and we chatted about phones and stuff. I could see at some point in her life, she was a beautiful lady. Mental illness, bad life decisions, drugs, alcohol or something had robbed her of that. But she had pride. I could see that. She let her phone charge. It dawned on me that there wasn't anyone on the other end of that line. She was speaking into an empty line. Maybe with the impression that she couldn't be taken pity upon. She simply was just waiting for life to keep moving past her. Much like myself. Except I would think in my case, I still have the ability to move with it. It doesn't seem she shares the same opportunity.
I packed up my things, and I stood up.
She piped up: "Listen, I just got these two large cups of coffee. You want the other one? I don't need this much, they keep giving me stuff." I was really moved by this. I'm not sure what it was, maybe I saw the passing of goodwill in one short time at Starbucks, but I'd be lying if I didn't think it was some sort of television set up. Like I'm going to be filmed being a total jerk to someone. I declined "No thank you, miss." She smiled.
"Take care of yourself, okay?" I said as I turned to leave.
"You too, hon. You too."
And with that I stepped into the canyons, a little less cynical about humanity.