{"id":789,"date":"2006-01-03T19:14:30","date_gmt":"2006-01-04T03:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/?p=789"},"modified":"2006-01-03T19:14:30","modified_gmt":"2006-01-04T03:14:30","slug":"a-bed-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/2006\/01\/03\/a-bed-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bed Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days, my mother<\/a> rarely sits in front of the computer. I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ll log-on with iChat and she\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ll be lying in bed, napping, watching TV or otherwise playing dead. Late Saturday morning I saw her bright face, up close, clicking away.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baSomething funny happened last night,\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 she said as soon as she realized I was watching her.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baWhat?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baDo you remember our friend Fred Howard? Mack tutored him in high school and I gave him your aquarium.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baNo memory at all of him. Go on.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baHe doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t have a job and what work he gets pays almost nothing. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t know where he lives, but Saturday night he knocks on our door. He\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s had a fight with his wife Tiesha, over his cell phone. She thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s sold it. \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00ba<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baFill me in a little more. He\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s beginning to sound like your friend Ron <\/a> who added a zero or two to that check he begged Mack to write and then ended up dead.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baNo, Fred\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s not a drug addict. He\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s a good looking guy, he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s big, over six feet tall, and no fat. He looks like he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s capable of doing hard work. You might hire him, but here he is asking for money or a place to sleep.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baThis young guy \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00ac he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s in his twenties now? \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00ac looking for a handout at what can be charitably described as a private nursing home? He has no one else to turn to? Or he knows he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ll get a few dollars from you?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baHe said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2I need ten dollars for a place to sleep.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4 I wanted to give him the money, but Mack wanted to give him a bed. The next thing I know, Mack\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s rummaging around in the linen closet for blankets so Fred can sleep on the futon in the living room.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baThis story is too good.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baBut it gets better. The next morning Fred gives me this big hug as he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s about to leave and says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2Thank you Mrs. Miller. I tell him, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2You don\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t need to be this homeless person wandering around in the cold rain looking for a place to sleep. You\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4re better than that.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4 He says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4m never going to be in this position again and he walks out our front door. But standing outside is his wife, Tiesha. She\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s screaming at him about how he\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s sold their cell phone. I can just see the blinds going up in the neighbors’ houses. They walk away together and then the police arrive.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baWho called the police?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baYou know I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4d never tell your sister this story, or my friend, Phyllis.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baWho called the police?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baI don\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t know. I guess his wife. Two officers come up to me on the porch and they ask if Henry Howard lives here. You know I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ve never liked the police leaning on me. Anyway, I turned to Mack who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t want any part of this and ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2Is Fred called Henry?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4 Of course he can\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t hear me. So I tell them no, Henry Howard doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4t live here, but there was a Fred here. All this time I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4m doing everything I can not to laugh. Can you imagine what they\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4re thinking? Here are these two old white folks and Fred is black of course. I tell them it\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s nothing more that a domestic disturbance and they can leave now. \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00ba<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baAnd did they?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baThey spoke to each other in some kind of code. And then they left.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s the end of the Fred story, but not the end of the conversation. Helen continues to fill me in on the days events and how happy she is and how much she appreciates her kids. \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baYou know, I really have had a good life. My kids are loving and successful, I have lots of friends – everything Is fine. Except for the relationship. Then she laughs loud enough for Diane to hear her in the other room. <\/p>\n

As she talks I watch her intently looking at her computer screen. She then asks, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baIs that Ginger on the blog?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baNot recently,\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 I answer. “You might have clicked on some old pages. She is in there.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 <\/p>\n

I log on to her computer using Timbuktu. I look at her screen and what do I see? <\/p>\n

The cursor scurrying around flipping solitaire cards.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baHEY! You mean you\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ve been talking to me AND playing solitaire at the same time?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 <\/p>\n

I hear an embarrassed, hand-in-the-cookie-jar giggle and then, \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baHow do you know?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baWhat do you mean, how do I know?\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00baOh, you can see my screen. Sometimes you see too much.\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days, my mother rarely sits in front of the computer. I\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ll log-on with iChat and she\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4ll be lying in bed, napping, watching TV or otherwise playing dead. Late Saturday morning I saw her bright face, up close, clicking away. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}