Perhaps now I believe in fate...

I'm still blown away by the events of last night.

I got back to the hotel around 10:30pm after a night of Buffy and Bee Gees with two co-workers down here in FL. When I was walking into the hotel, I saw a woman and little boy walking through the parking lot. Both were barefoot. The woman was crying and yelling, “Your father’s going to fucking beat you up! He’s going to beat me up! There’s nothing I can do. This fucking hotel won’t help!” She just kept crying as she dragged her son through the parking lot.

I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She just looked at me and started sobbing. I asked if they needed a room for the night and she sobbed, saying that her boyfriend kicked them out and she only had $87. The hotel was $120 for the night. They didn’t know what they were going to do. I put my arm around the woman and took the little boy’s hand and walked with them to the hotel.

While we were walking, the mom introduced me to her son. His name is Justin. I told him how lucky he was that he was going to stay in a hotel. Only big boys get to stay in hotels.

When I was paying for the room, the mother handed me a wadded up ball of bills. $87. I asked her if she had any cash on her but she had given me all she had. I gave her most of the money back. Justin was eyeing the soda machine. I wanted that little boy to get his Coke.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to this family but I can’t stop thinking about that little boy. These are things that can stay with a kid for a very long time. You don’t forget the night your father kicks you out of the house and you’re forced to walk the streets barefoot with your hysterical mother. I hope he’s okay. I hope his mother is okay. I’ll probably never know. But I will certainly pray for them. I think they could use your thoughts and prayers, too.

(no subject)

I'm a bit overwhemled by all the comments to my entry from earlier today. I honestly wasn't even thinking about it that way. I just wanted to help. So thank you all for your words and know that, even if I don't respond to everyone individually, you warmed my heart and made me feel very good. An update. I called the hotel and the mother and son were gone by checkout. I hope they're okay. And, when I was on the phone with the hotel, the guy at the desk told me the person on before him told him the situation and they reduced the rate for the room to the corporate rate saving me $40. That was a nice treat. Kindess goes round in circles.

Plus, lots and lots of treats for me today!

- aemenangel found me a JC/Orlando story. She's trying to introduce me to the wonderful world of LOTR and Orlando Bloom. That helped.

- Then my phone beeps and I have a deliciously naughty text message from powrhug. Those boys can't keep their hands off each other.

- I learned there is a CFTC community: cftc03. Plus, I booked a hotel room. And I'm excited about all of the wonderful people I'll get to see/meet at the event.

What else?

- Lots of recs popping up today. Perfect for a girl on a business trip with no plans for the night.

- And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY viasaintpaul! I hope you have a wonderful day. Tell your sister that the "dog-rimming" card was fantastic. ;)

(no subject)

Unlike some of my friends (you know who you are), I'm not all that enamoured with quizzes. But this one made me giggle. Happily stolen from dacey.

</td><td valign="top">OK, so maybe you ain't a geek. You do, at least, show a bit of interest in the world around you. Either that, or you have enough of a sense of humor to pick some of the sillier answers on the test. Regardless, you're probably a pretty nifty, well-rounded person who gets along fine with people and can chat with just about anyone without fear of looking stupid or foolish or overly concerned with minutiae. God, I hate you.</td>

You are 9% geek

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

(I did think that my honest enjoyment of Klingon jokes would have made me a bit geekier.)