Picture this!
Working with homeless people, addicts of all types, the uninsured, people dying with AIDS, the mentally ill and with death happening all around ... you gotta laugh.
It's a key ingredient to getting through life.
I admit mastering Gallows Humor ... joking and laughing at very unpleasant, serious, or painful circumstances ... such as death, war, disease, divorce, crime, and Southern Baptist theology.
Need an example?
Alright.
His name was Norm and he was dead.
He hated me when he was alive because he refused to do anything except sit in a wheelchair and tell me he couldn't do anything.
He could eat ... a lot.
He also amassed a substantial collection of Porn that he kept under his bed ... in the dorm with 49 other homeless men ...so to this day I'm completely uncertain what he did with it ... but he had a lot.
We were painting the homeless shelter and I told him he had to help ... which of course he refused ... saying he couldn't get out of his wheelchair.
"Alright," I say handing him a brush and a bucket of stain, "you paint the Chair guard. It's the perfect height for you."
He did.
Then he died.
Having named me the Executor of his Estate.
Regardless of the Biblical admonition to "Love Thy Neighbor"... I don't even like Norm ... and he didn't like me ... but sitting in the Attorney's office ... wondering how a homeless man in a wheelchair has an estate ... I know the Son-of-a-Bitch got me in the end.
"What are we talking about here Counselor?" I ask the Lawyer.
"He left $45 in a checking account ... two pair of shoes ... a couple of bags of clothes."
I hate Norm.
"You going to close the account?"
"Of course," I reply. "Does it cover your fee?"
"No, no, no," he laughs evilly.
Did I mention I hate Norm.
When I tell my homeless friends back at the shelter what Norm's done they howl with laughter ... which of course ... makes me laugh too ... because it's contagious ... and in the end will get you through most anything.
Oh yeah ...
The Hospital calls asking when I'm claiming Norm's body because it's starting to purge.
"Soon," I laugh. "Soon."
Shutting off the phone my friends grab me as they fall on the floor laughing, wiping tears from their eyes, and slapping each other on the back.
"That's terrible," they laugh.
The phone immediately rings again ... flashing it's the Hospital ... and everyone laughs harder.
