::whatcha gonna do?::

i'm a bit sour today over what happened at work. a customer pointed out that a man was laying on the ground in our parking lot. his words were "it doesn't look very good for business" but all i could think was his tendency to point out our office's shortcomings in decor or personnel. he's a nice gentleman, really, but i kind of felt put off by his whole "i'm telling you you've got a problem and you should take care of it". there are a lot of people in our neighborhood who are destitute. a handful of people are regular fixtures either in our lobby or when i walk to the donut shop (oh how guilty i feel getting my sweet fix with chocolate crullers). it's an unusual occurrence for south orange county, home to a population which is generally wealthy or upper middle class. needless to say, i couldn't very well ignore the fact that he was on the ground laying on the asphalt in broad daylight. so i asked for a second opinion: call the sheriff's department or call 911?

so i called 911 and explained the situation and the dispatcher said he would send someone over to check it out.

let me first explain that our office is literally a stone's throw from the fire department. our days are punctuated by sirens throughout the work day, to the point where sirens or the wailing of a passing train have blended into the buzz of the background. but when that cautionary tone blared out this morning, i balked. that's NOT headed here. please say their not coming here. and into our parking lot the paramedic and fire truck bellowed fiercely, swiftly coming to a halt in front of the body of the man laying on the hot black pavement.

what happened following their initial examination escapes me.
first glance: 3 firemen, looking bored, leaning against the fire truck
second glance: fire truck leaves, paramedic hangs out
third glance: police car shows up, and the man is standing in front of the cruiser. we realize that the man is a customer. one who usually comes in reeking of alcohol at any time of day.
fourth glance: the policeman puts the man in the back of his car and fills out paperwork.

and when he left i thought to myself i just got that man arrested! and i felt bad for a while. i thought maybe there could have been another outcome, since the man wasn't actually hurting someone directly except for the man who thought he was an eyesore. or, maybe this will be a turning point and the man will snap out of this unfortunate direction he's headed in.

and that was how my day was. hopefully tonight is better.