I learned last week that the city is distributing free food at
nine o’clock every Monday morning in the parking lot of the public library, so last
Monday I drove over there at eight o’clock. Not only was the parking lot already full, but
a police car blocked the road to prevent any more cars from entering; so this
morning I drove over at six o’clock, and got there just before the police arrived.
This is the fourth coldest May on record. As I sat shivering in my car, watching snowflakes land and melt on my windshield, it seemed apparent to me that even though we’re doing our best to destroy the world, it’s fighting back against global warming. A wave of rage then washed over me at the stupidity of the people who sat in the other cars. Instead of fighting back against those who are destroying the world, they waited, like sheep, to be fed. Instead of fighting back, they're fighting to return to work and die for them. But the rage soon washed away, as it always does, and was replaced by pity.
Eventually workers brought out pallets stacked high with cardboard boxes of food. The stacks swayed in the wind, and the boxes at the bottom were crushed almost flat by the weight of those above them. The workers had been doing this for months, but still they hadn’t learned how to do it right.
This absurdity was followed by another, as two men carrying bundles of paper, which I assumed (correctly, it turned out) were leaflets telling us the food was ours thanks to the generosity of our mayor. One of the men was tall and thin, and the other was a short stout dwarf. They looked like r2d2 and c3p0 made flesh.
The twine holding the dwarf’s bundle broke, and the wind scattered the leaflets over the parking lot. He stood there for a moment, shoulders sagging, then waddled after them on his stubby legs. It was like a scene from a comedy, not least because the police got out of their car, but instead of helping the dwarf retrieve his leaflets, they strode back and forth, swaggering self-importantly, the only two people in the parking lot not wearing masks.
Seeing this comedy almost made the long wait worthwhile. The food certainly didn’t. When I got home and opened my box, I found it contained mostly candy and soft drinks, which I threw away.
This is the fourth coldest May on record. As I sat shivering in my car, watching snowflakes land and melt on my windshield, it seemed apparent to me that even though we’re doing our best to destroy the world, it’s fighting back against global warming. A wave of rage then washed over me at the stupidity of the people who sat in the other cars. Instead of fighting back against those who are destroying the world, they waited, like sheep, to be fed. Instead of fighting back, they're fighting to return to work and die for them. But the rage soon washed away, as it always does, and was replaced by pity.
Eventually workers brought out pallets stacked high with cardboard boxes of food. The stacks swayed in the wind, and the boxes at the bottom were crushed almost flat by the weight of those above them. The workers had been doing this for months, but still they hadn’t learned how to do it right.
This absurdity was followed by another, as two men carrying bundles of paper, which I assumed (correctly, it turned out) were leaflets telling us the food was ours thanks to the generosity of our mayor. One of the men was tall and thin, and the other was a short stout dwarf. They looked like r2d2 and c3p0 made flesh.
The twine holding the dwarf’s bundle broke, and the wind scattered the leaflets over the parking lot. He stood there for a moment, shoulders sagging, then waddled after them on his stubby legs. It was like a scene from a comedy, not least because the police got out of their car, but instead of helping the dwarf retrieve his leaflets, they strode back and forth, swaggering self-importantly, the only two people in the parking lot not wearing masks.
Seeing this comedy almost made the long wait worthwhile. The food certainly didn’t. When I got home and opened my box, I found it contained mostly candy and soft drinks, which I threw away.
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