The fella in front of me is obviously a hard working man, worn
clothes, down at the heels, thick calloused hands, greasy nails, etc... He
has a wad of the slips you mark with a #2 pencil for the machine reader to
enter your numbers... He is talking to himself and by the time he gets
to
the register he has a hundred bucks worth of numbers marked up... By the
time he gets done with the clerk he has a hundred fifty bucks worth of
numbers...

This is not uncommon at all.

As many of you know, in a previous life I spent 7 years in Racine, WI's
inner city (between Milwaukee and Chicago) collecting money from deadbeats.
This meant going into the poorest, meanest parts of town on what was known
as "Father's Day" -- the day the welfare checks arrived, shortly after the
first of the month. (It was called "Father's Day" cuz that was the only day
of the month anyone ever saw 'em.)

If you got to the deadbeat Moms before the Dads could take the money, you
stood a decent chance of getting paid. Otherwise, you were out of luck for
another month. And those deadbeats could be found standing in line at one
of two places: On the street, buying drugs, or at the convenience store,
buying lottery tickets.

It was always a lively debate, discussing which was more pathetic.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"