Imagine one day you went to meet someone in town about a putting up a gatorade stand for people at the entrance of the city trails and running paths.
As you walked downtown you stopped in a park. Out of the blue he would say random things.
“I don’t want that person over there to put wood over his head to protect him from the rain.”
“OK” you thought to yourself. That’s weird. You continue to talk about getting a permit for your gatorade stand.
As you passed an elderly woman with her grand children he shouts,
“I don’t want that person to be warm in freezing weather!”
That happened you think, “Are you OK? Are we still talking about my gatorade stand?”
“Yes, yes. He says. I just have this tick where I shout things out sometimes.”
He has a disability. That makes sense.
“I don’t want that person to have a soft bed!”
Huh? What-
“I don’t want that person to be safe!”
You pause and stop him. “I understand you have a tick. Do you mind if I ask you a question about it?”
“Not at all!”
“Are these things you actually believe?”
“Well. Yeah.”
“I want that person in jail for vagrancy because they have no money.”
“OK dude.” you say, somewhat in shock, “Do you need any more information from me for the permit or are we done?”
“No. You’re approved. You can put your stand anywhere. You’re a business.”
“Ok”
“I shouldn’t be telling you this but if you want to hire immigrants and pay them under the table go ahead. If you want to go over seas and pay less for workers go ahead.”
“I’m a glorified lemonade stand.” you say.
“Oh right. Well, you’re part of our club now. Wink wink”, he says.
You leave a bit perplexed. You only wanted to sell revitalizing drinks to people after a walk or workout.
As you’re walking home you stop at a small shop and get a bite to eat. The sun is going down and you start to walk home.
Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye a bright light flashes across the sky! A few seconds later hear a deafening sounds. A shock wave!
You head home and head to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day.
The birds seem to be chirping a bit louder today as you open your eyes and see the first rays of the morning sun streaming through your window.
You stroll out of bed and get ready for the day. You head to your local corner shop to get some coffee and snacks.
You get ready and head to your second meeting with the city guy to pick up your permit.
But as you head out you realize somethings not right. You have 20 texts and 10 missed calls.
You open your social media app and there it is,
“Zombies! They are real!”
You check the date. It’s not April 1st. Huh. Someone’s playing a joke.
You get to the city official main office and Mervin is at the door,
He sees you across the parking lot and yells at you at the top of his lungs, “GET INSIDE! IT’S NOT SAFE OUTSIDE! GET THE HELL INSIDE!” He pulls out a shotgun from somewhere as your eyes grow wide.
“Haven’t you seen the news? It’s not safe to be outside!”
You go up to his second floor office and as you look out the window he fills you in.
There it is.
Then you hear the screams. Someone is running down the road. Theres a car crash and sirens are going off. You see a zombie off in the distance. Like a deer in the headlights you are hypnotized.
Suddenly you hear someone nearby.
There’s someone at the office front door shaking it but it’s locked.
“HELP! I NEED HELP! I’M BEING CHASED BY ZOMBIES! THEY JUST GOT SOMEONE!”
Mervin, looks alarmed.
He runs over to the window shoving you out of his way, his eyes wide and angry.
“YOU!”
“DO YOU HAVE 3 MONTHS WORK HISTORY? DO YOU HAVE FIRST MONTHS RENT, LAST MONTHS RENT AND DEPOSIT?”
“Wha-what? What are you talking about? If I don’t have housing right now I will LITERALLY DIE!”
“WHAT IS YOUR CREDIT SCORE?”
You look at Mervin horrified, You shout out, “What’s wrong with you? Let him in! Let anyone in who needs housing! Being outside is a death sentence!”
“PEOPLE MUST PAY TO LIVE!!!” he says eyes wild.
Somethings clearly not right. You grab him and shake him.
“Get a hold of yourself man!”
“THREE REFERENCES! NO GAPS IN JOB HISTORY!!!”, he screams as he starts foaming at the mouth.
You look at him steadily. “Is he — is he a zombie or the people outside?” You snap back to reality and shout again, “The door is chained! Give me the keys!”
“YOU MUST MAKE TRIPLE THE INCOME!”, he says.
As you go for the keys he kicks his chair in front of you as glide briefly out the door and out of his office. “That happened” you think.
Down below you hear the screams from the man at the door and again yell to Mervin through his office door, “People without housing will die because you did nothing. This is reckless endangerment.”
“RULES MUST — MUST FOLLOW —CAPITALISM — PROFIT OVER ALL”, he screams as you see him convulsing on the floor.
Hello. This is the author. Go to any city and ask the public housing authority for help.
