Donald Ray Wait - 05/27/1945
Donald is a well known panhandler in the City of Ocala. He can be found near the ChuckECheese begging for money from mothers and fathers walking their children to the store. Donald also frequents a Publix along State Road 200. From head to toe, Donald always appears filthy dirty. He holds a metal cross and looks at passersby out of the side of his eyes as he appears to have difficulty making direct eye contact. His crutch is always at hand (although he does not appear to need it) along with an ever changing bicycle with bags full of God knows what. Donald can be found panhandling at all hours of the day and night, and walking in the weekend hours amongst the closed medical buildings between the downtown hospitals and the West Marion Hospital. Donald is an aggressive panhandler having once grabbed my wife's forearm in while asking for money while our family was walking to our vehicle after grocery shopping; a bad move as Donald found out. Donald has become a character of interest for our family as we seem to have him in our neighborhood and among the establishments we frequent. He is hard to miss by sight, smell, or sound. He has provided a bit of entertainment as we have pulled over and watched him for several minutes at a time, going about his unique routines.
Donald was arrested on December 23, 2009 at 6:55 pm for panhandling and is spending a few nights at the Marion County Sheriff's Office Jail this Christmas (at taxpayer expense). A review of the court records of the Clerk of Court for Marion County Florida along with the Florida Department of Corrections shows that Mr. Wait has never been arrested before. Interesting.
With that said, our family has discussed Donald on several occasions. He is obviously walking a unique path that differs from that of the vast majority of those in the nation (oh the politically correct speech we are forced to use). Now that we know he is 64, we are surprised that he has made it this long but won't bet on a prolonged lifespan in comparison to the rest of society. And then, maybe he will live a normal life expectancy with the passage of federal health care.
The Donald's of the nation are a fact of life. They exist and are among us every day. If you attempt to talk to Donald and try to help him, he walks away, mumbling and flaring his arms, but then will approach you from behind when you least expect it in an effort to pocket a buck or two; again, a bad move.
As we’ve watched Donald (we now have a name for the one we’ve nicknamed Buster Brown), we’ve frequently discussed the cost he is having on our community. Food, shelter, medical care, and now, at least one confirmed confinement in our local jail. Has Donald ever worked and paid taxes? Has Donald ever paid for his health care? Had Donald ever stolen anything or left a back doorway to a business as tidy and free of human waste as he found it?
Tomorrow is Christmas and across the nation there will be many families like ours who will wake to the joy of Santa’s presents under the Christmas tree. We will have our coffee and hot chocolate and give thanks to God, the blessings bestowed upon us, and all that is good in the world. At the same time, there will be countless Donald’s who will wake up alone in the shadows of traditional society while walking like the rest of us in the sunshine for all to see. His needs are as obvious as his Buster Brown tattoo around his left eye and yet, there is nothing in the trillion dollar health care bill that will do a thing to help Donald; and should or can it?
The nation has problems that are as obvious as the nose on Rudolph. Rather than confront the difficult issues with practical solutions, far too often we watch the federal and state government throw millions, billions, and trillions into feel good pots that result in the greedy pocketing much more than their fair share. The time has come to simply call it the way it is and stop all the pussy footing around. We can be civil while at the same time not hamstringing ourselves with academic elitists telling us what is and is not politically correct.
And so here are my Three Christmas Wishes for Donald.
(1) A warm and comfortable bed for Christmas.
(2) A warm and healthy meal for Christmas.
(3) A judge who will order you to a long-term, no-nonsense, mental facility that will aggressively reprogram you thought processing capabilities so you can become a productive member of society. (A reasonable answer from a political party that offers real solutions to real problems.)
The collective whole of the nation must realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Health care is no different than buying a loaf of bread; it’s going to cost you unless you want it stale, hard, and moldy. The free lunch wagon is running out of food and those like Donald need to straighten up, fly right, or get out of town as our community with near 15% unemployment has had enough.
With that said, I will leave you with a quote from President Reagan: "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
Merry Christmas Donald
Get help or get out of town; we can't afford you anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment