Outside the Box

While driving to my mother’s on Father’s Day I chanced to see a man standing alongside Conant St next to one of those old fashioned clothes donation boxes. This box does not have a charity noted on it; it just says “clothes donation box”. So it might just be some dude getting free clothes. Regardless, this guy standing next to it was taking off his shirt and putting it in the box! He had no undershirt, and he was not a young man, so it was not a pretty sight. He did not appear to be homeless, just shirtless. My first thought was that that this guy could be on the lamb. Since I was driving I was unable to take a picture but his image is permanently etched in my memory, like that stamp on your hand from the disco club that won’t wash off before church. When I see him again, and I know I will, I’ll know it’s him. When Mother and I drove down Conant later in the day, he was gone, but she believed me that he had been there. 

On a somewhat related note here’s a tip from your favorite uncle: I personally have found that taking my dress shirts to the Goodwill and buying them back is a lot cheaper than getting them dry-cleaned. They come back cleaned and pressed, and it’s a nice tax write-off. And studies have shown that the folks at Goodwill are less likely to wear your shirts than your dry cleaner.