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Another SM minute: Larry - Judging a book by its cover.
CHUCK BRAMLET (chuckb@AZTEC.ASU.EDU)
Wed, 18 Nov 1998 14:38:11 -0700
This one didn't come from anyone else this time.
A good number of years ago, when my wife and I were first married,
and long before either of the kids came, we lived in an apartment
complex in an area of the city that was "lower middle class" at
best. The residents were the usual mix of transients, young people,
young marrieds, and elderly. Amoung the mix, there was the gay male
nurse, the 2 young female dental techs that worked for the dentist
that owned the property, Mildred and her cats, and Larry.
Larry was old, but not elderly, and obviously an alcoholic, or worse.
He lived over on the side of the complex with his teenage daughter.
Nobody ever mentioned anything about a wife. She had either passed
away, or divorced him sometime before I met him. His daughter hardly
spoke to anyone.
He walked with a cane, never seemed to sleep, and smoked constantly.
The rumor was that he had been hurt in a truck accident, but no one
seemed to know much more about it. We all knew that he watched us
all, and knew everything that went on in the complex. Many of the
women were afraid of him, and all were a bit nervous when he was
around.
Early one afternoon, before I went to work, I heard him yelling and
cursing and carrying on from the common area. I didn't think too
much about it, just that he must be really drunk. The yard men had
been cleaning the pool, and he didn't like them much. The feeling
was, I think, mutual. Then I heard other people yelling, and some
start to run. Curiousity got the best of me, and I went on outside,
to see what was going on.
Larry was inside the pool area, still yelling, and some of the other
residents were just beginning to get to that area, when one of the
young mothers came out screaming that her baby was gone. The child,
a toddler, had apparently awakened early, and managed to open the
door, and get outside.
Larry was crouched next to the deep end of the pool, holding his
cane by the bottom end, and the handle hooked under the child's arm,
holding its head above water. He had seen the child go through the
open gate into the pool area, and got there as fast as he could.
Needless to say, after that most people didn't mind the fact that he
was a bit nosey, or always watching everything. If he was around,
we were all safe.
YiS,
Chuck Bramlet -- I "used to be" an Antelope! WEM-10-95 Member DNRC
ASM Troop 323, Firebird District, Grand Canyon Council, Phoenix, Az.
mailto:chuckb@aztec.asu.edu
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The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge
and controversy. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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