Homeless is Not a Good Place to Be

Thanks for Stopping By.

I Guess You’d Call This My MISSION STATEMENT.

I hope we get the chance to become friends and this is but one of many stops you’ll make here in the months  to come.  While we attract a large number of serious readers, one of our “rules” insists we will allow humor, and I’ve been known to inject more than a little of it into the things I say.  So, assuming you and I were never married to each other, we should both enjoy our time together.

If you’ve been here before and don’t want to wait here in the lobby, click here to get directly to the blog.

Why “At My Friend’s Place”?

Brilliant and creative as I am and can be, not every clever concept I’ve used in my life originated in my mind.  Some of my best ideas were stolen.  After all, I’m a writer, and writers are among the most prolific thieves.  In an earlier century, (doesn’t that sound eerie?), a friend of mine was also my barber.  Nowadays we call ‘em stylists, but my buddy didn’t charge enough for a title that spiffy.

His name was, (probably still is, but I haven’t spoken with the man in 40 years), Rick Bellingar, of Laingsburg, MI, (his business is located in Lansing, the state capitol).  When his brother, Vic, wanted to resume barbering, he started up in Rick’s shop.  Clever rascal that Rick could be, (he conned a lovely woman named Lanny he clearly didn’t deserve into marrying him), he changed the name of his shop to “My Brother’s”, indicating each guy’s brother was part-owner.  The story behind the name, and necessarily required explanation, got him a nice chunk of free publicity from the “word of mouth” agency.

For reasons I can only guess at, (the first would have something to do with the words “Vic” and “absence”), Rick’s business is now Another Look Hair Institute.  The ever-so-lovely Lanny is still involved, and one thing about Rick hasn’t changed.

He still doesn’t deserve her.  ; )

The first time I swiped the idea was a trucking company I opened in the mid 80s with another fella, Les Milligan.  We called it “My Friend’s Trucking Company”, but the name soon shortened to MFT.  Funny, that short name was actually longer than our friendship and/or the partnership, but that’s another story for another day.

Almost exactly twenty years later I became a member of the homeless community.  The idea germinated in my never sedentary mind and up popped “My Friend’s Place”.  I mused on and mulled over the concept in varying forms during the four and a third long years I resided in that particular wing of hell.

The homeless, as the word connotes, have no place to sleep.  No place to live.  No place to “be”, and we all need a place to “be”.  Having been homeless, I can attest anyone who offers a homeless person anything of benefit is immediately classified as a friend.  In the case of someone who provides a bed, a place to eat, food to consume and a locality where the police won’t/can’t/don’t harass the homeless man or woman, the word “friend” seems inadequate.  Insufficient.

Still, that’s what My Friend’s Place will be when all is said and done.

The “word of mouth” publicity will apply for much the same reason it did for Rick and Vic.  Someone who slips, or is hurled into, the dank dungeon of homelessness, if asked where he’s staying, can say, “My Friend’s Place” and be telling the truth.  I/we/it will be that homeless guy or gal’s friend.  The “advertising” will come when the person just told by the homeless guy where he’s staying asks, “Oh?  What’s your friend’s name?”

Whenever that happens, we’re off!  A unique and memorable offshoot of the double-entendre will trigger yet another explanation, and so it goes.

Not Everything Here Will Be a Happy Topic …

… but almost everything we get into will be important to you in one way or another.

I’m going to talk about a lot of stuff here … some happy, some not so happy. By the time we spend a post or two here together you’ll get the idea. You may not realize it now, but take good mental notes and it’ll come back to you when you need it most.  Among the things that are not “warm fuzzies”, but will be topics of discussion, are things that either are now, or might be all too soon, extremely important to you.  They’re current items like:

• Unemployment
• Foreclosure
• Homelessness

Every one of them … Hey!  You there, in the back row!  Pay attention here!  This could very well be all about you! … is something that can, and will in one way or another, affect practically every home in our country.  In the world, to be more accurate.

In the About page of this blog I share some of my personal story. You may find it interesting … you may find it a bore … but you’ll know pretty fast why I’ve chosen to write this blog.  It will give you a better understanding of the two-part question, “If not me, who?  If not now, when?” coined by Robert Rabbin.

Thanx again for stopping in.  If the blog posts I put up on what’s now pretty much a daily basis are what you’re lookin’ for, all ya gotta do is click here.  And to think … people say Sarah Palin has a lock on bein’ folksy.  

I’m just sayin’.