Have you ever been approached by a scruffy looking person with a long story as to why they are asking for some change for the pay phone, only to write them off as a lying crack addict?
Well, last night the stars aligned and my husband was that guy.
He’s been remodeling a commercial bathroom for a local law firm at night, so as to not interfere with their fancy-schmancy office, and last night was no exception.
However, it was my sister’s last night in town before returning to Oklahoma, so we brought him some clean clothes, took him to dinner, and then dropped him off on our way back.
A few hours later, he decided to call it a night and walked out the door, only to discover that his truck keys weren’t in his pocket. In fact, nothing was in any of his pockets.
He had changed back into his work clothes and left everything in his nice pants. His wallet, his money, all of his keys, his cell phone, all snuggled safely in the pockets of his other pants. Which were in a bag. In the bathroom. Of the locked building.
Do you realize that in this day and age of cell phones, you aren’t required to remember anyone’s phone number anymore? Yeah.
And have you ever noticed that pay phones aren’t on every street corner, the way they used to be? Yeah.
Also, have you ever wondered what would happen if you had to creep around a professional building in the middle of the night, dressed in scruffy clothes that are covered in tile dust, checking all the doors to see if they are locked? Yeah.
Basically, you end up hanging out on the curb outside of a gas station in a questionable neighborhood, hoping that your wife will answer when you call the house from an unknown (pay phone) number, using the only change you could scrounge up.
Of course, your kids are asleep and your wife can’t pick you up, but at least she can try to arrange a ride for you, once she stops laughing.
And that’s how it happens: a successful business man spends a couple of hours in the shoes of a hobo.
