A few weeks ago I had a friend in town for a few hours between flights. We wanted to hang out and were hungry, which meant we went and got food. Luckily because the Phoenix airport is in the middle of town you can go 10 minutes in any direction and find some great places to eat food.
Looking at what was close and sounded yummy we decided to go to Lolo's Chicken and Waffles. I had never been there before but I really wanted to try chicken and waffles. Sitting there and looking at the prices of the entrees, I realized just how cheap making chicken and waffles could be. Like, seriously, I could open a shop and make some serious dough while still keeping the prices cheap*. But that's beside the point. I'm not the conspiracy theorist in this story and it was better food than I could have made that filled us up, which is all we really wanted.
When we finally came out of the restaurant and began walking to my car we met this man who was a little raggedy and riding a bike. He came up to me and asked me for some food or money. He explained that some kind soul had given him food not too long ago, but he had set it down on the sidewalk for a minute and looked up to find it gone. That was really unfortunate because he was hungry and the food had smelled good! I sympathized with him (making all the correct "awww" sounds during his story) but then informed him that I had no money on me: I had just used it to pay for my food inside.
Suddenly this man started to rant: he let me know that he was having a terrible day. There was a gang in the neighborhood that had the sole purpose of killing him somehow. He had almost gotten run over by them a few times that day and he KNEW that whoever had stolen his food was part of the gang that was just tormenting him. He continued to ask me for money and I continued to remind him I had no cash and to make sympathetic sounds as I fumbled quickly for my keys to let my friend and I into my car.
At the last moment as my friend and I were escaping quickly into the safety of my car, the man turned to me, no longer to ask for food or money, but to accuse me of being part of the gang in the neighborhood out to get him. The sudden exclamation of "YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!" sped on my retreat to my car, and was also the only thing my friend heard of my short conversation with the gentleman. It was enough for her to realize the mental state of my new friend though. As I slowly exited the parking lot, we laughed (a little nervously) at the back and forth I had experienced with the man on the bicycle but the whole time I was watching for him--just in case he wanted to prove my connection to this "gang" by jumping in in front of my car to see if I was trying to hit him.
*I'm not trying to bash on Lolo's. It is actually really good food and the prices are pretty cheap. I just wanted to clear that up.
Looking at what was close and sounded yummy we decided to go to Lolo's Chicken and Waffles. I had never been there before but I really wanted to try chicken and waffles. Sitting there and looking at the prices of the entrees, I realized just how cheap making chicken and waffles could be. Like, seriously, I could open a shop and make some serious dough while still keeping the prices cheap*. But that's beside the point. I'm not the conspiracy theorist in this story and it was better food than I could have made that filled us up, which is all we really wanted.
When we finally came out of the restaurant and began walking to my car we met this man who was a little raggedy and riding a bike. He came up to me and asked me for some food or money. He explained that some kind soul had given him food not too long ago, but he had set it down on the sidewalk for a minute and looked up to find it gone. That was really unfortunate because he was hungry and the food had smelled good! I sympathized with him (making all the correct "awww" sounds during his story) but then informed him that I had no money on me: I had just used it to pay for my food inside.
Suddenly this man started to rant: he let me know that he was having a terrible day. There was a gang in the neighborhood that had the sole purpose of killing him somehow. He had almost gotten run over by them a few times that day and he KNEW that whoever had stolen his food was part of the gang that was just tormenting him. He continued to ask me for money and I continued to remind him I had no cash and to make sympathetic sounds as I fumbled quickly for my keys to let my friend and I into my car.
At the last moment as my friend and I were escaping quickly into the safety of my car, the man turned to me, no longer to ask for food or money, but to accuse me of being part of the gang in the neighborhood out to get him. The sudden exclamation of "YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!" sped on my retreat to my car, and was also the only thing my friend heard of my short conversation with the gentleman. It was enough for her to realize the mental state of my new friend though. As I slowly exited the parking lot, we laughed (a little nervously) at the back and forth I had experienced with the man on the bicycle but the whole time I was watching for him--just in case he wanted to prove my connection to this "gang" by jumping in in front of my car to see if I was trying to hit him.
*I'm not trying to bash on Lolo's. It is actually really good food and the prices are pretty cheap. I just wanted to clear that up.
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