another anecdote: the man and his bird.

“So there’s this homeless man who lives on Commercial Drive. The guy has a pet pigeon. It’s not a willing pet pigeon though; the pigeon is tied to him with a piece of string. How he caught it in the first place I don’t know. He’s one of those homeless people who think that we, who work hard for our money etc, owe him the world. He gets rude when those walking past don’t give him any change, not realizing that maybe some of us (myself included) are just a few dollars away from being in the very position he is in (aside from the pet pigeon because, I’m sorry, but that is just gross and not to mention cruel). Anyway, this guy is indignant and constantly covered, head to toe, in bird shit. I don’t blame the bird either, if I were unwillingly tied to someone day in and out, I’d probably crap on them too. One day last summer during that super hot spell where it was like 40 degrees for a couple weeks and tempers were really rising, I walked past the man and his bird on the corner of first and commercial at his usual post outside of Red Burrito (he actually switches corners every few days, but it’s always first and commercial) and he was parked on the sidewalk with said pigeon sitting on his head. At the very moment I was approaching my favourite bum, a man who was more generous than I walked on past and tossed a loonie or two into the extended paper coffee cup, “It’s for the pigeon!” he said cheerfully and went on his way, whistling, if I remember correctly. The homeless man looked at him incredulously and shouted angrily, “IT’S A DOVE!”. Now when I pass him on the corner of first and commercial, I remember that afternoon, I chuckle to myself, and it makes my day.”