Tuesday, June 26, 2012

People In My Neighborhood: Ben the Scratch-Off Maniac

Ben's just one of those neighborhood types. He doesn't ever journey beyond the boundaries of the block that his house is on and the block that all the stores are on which is two blocks away from the block that his house is on.  He always wears the jacket seen in this picture, rain or shine. I asked him if it was his "lucky jacket" but he just shrugged and said it was "his jacket". I once saw him spill coffee on it, and he said, "Damn! I spilt coffee all over my shirt," which I think sums it up a little better.  All you smart guys out there might not get down with what I'm saying here, but a guy who calls his everyday jacket - a shirt - is awesomely breaking some kind of boring human law.  And he's doing it without trying.  As far as coffee goes, I know that he drinks nearly 10 cups a day, and he hits the four local spots that have Scratch-offs and Lotto at least three times a day.  He lives with relatives, doesn't have a significant other, and has some kind of disability check that comes in from years of working as a clerk for some kind of company that dealt in "the manufacture of a certain kind of part for a certain kind of ballpoint pen".  That's all I could get out of the guy.  He does like to talk about the coming holidays though, which is what our tip-toe friendship is based on.