This is clearly my day of rage, so I'm going to go with it...

When I was walking Kirby tonight, also back on Rivington Street, an elderly man was sitting on the sidewalk and asked me to call 911 for him. When my cell phone wouldn't work (thanks Verizon, you suck), I stepped into the grocery (about three feet from where the old guy had collapsed) to ask the owner to call 911 for me. He and about 12 other men standing around ignored me. Let’s break this down: this was the second time in the past year that I've tried to call 911 for someone in this exact location and not been able to get through. And this is also the second time that this store owner has refused to call. He makes enough money selling cheap beer to underage kids and old alcoholics to renovate his entire store, but he can't be bothered to call 911 for the people passed out in front. You can be part of this society or you can be a wart on its ass. Guess which one the store owner is.

A few other notes: the old guy was pretty lucid for a 70 year old going through detox. He's also from Madrid, spent a few years in Pittsburgh working for at a factory and tried to explain to me that the reason that the men in the store wouldn't help him is because they didn't understand his Spanish, which is different from theirs. Which is bullshit. An old homeless man trying to save face by forgiving the guys that hang out in this store doesn't sit well with me. They can comment on my ass every time I walk by, but they're too confused to understand "Call 911 please"? I highly doubt it.

On a side note, it was pouring down rain through all of this, so Kirby no longer needs a bath. Bright side to everything.