For Ed's birthday, I tried to get him Kanye West tickets. When that didn't work, I went for the Kids in the Hall tickets. I figured that you can't go wrong with Canadian sketch comedy.
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Ed: I feel like Ms Stockard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation right now.
Me: Why?
Ed: There's a scene in the movie where she walks out of this Park Ave dinner party because she is fed up with her husband/life and the camera follows her down Park Ave and she is dressed to the nines (as I am today) and the music is some German classical composer and she jumps up and touches this tree. She has no real reason to be happy but she is and that's exactly how I feel right now.
]]>1: Someone needs to put that marsupial back into reality.
2: Crayfish.
1: Hahaha. GOOD ONE.
Today Ed and I met an elderly woman named Thelma Bell.
She was standing outside of the Ralph's on Wilshire and Western and as we were pulling into the lot Ed said "It's hot out, we should give her a ride." I thought about it for a moment and I was torn-- I grew up having an abnormally special relationship with my grandmother and I have always had a spot in my heart for the elderly that's like, super soft. Even as someone who often gets asked to make jokes, there are two things I won't joke about because the subjects are too sensitive to me: homeless people and the elderly. I don't do "old people are gross/lame/smelly/stupid/out of it" jokes. That's not funny to me. In my personal opinion, the elderly are our most prized citizens and it is a shame that they aren't treated like that more often.
Still, I felt nervous at first and told Ed that we should let her be. I didn't want to insult her or have her think we're robbing her or anything. A few years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about walking up to her and striking up a conversation, but LA has made me more weary of others than I've ever been. I'm thinking that this is something I need to actively try and change about myself. I'd like to get that personable and friendly nature back. ANYWAY, Ed insisted we say something.
Within a minute or so of talking to us, she told us that her name was Thelma Bell and she will be turning 100 years old in August. She's lived in Koreatown for over 48 years in the same apartment. She's from West Virginia and she has a son. Her grandson stole her gold teeth that were worth four thousand dollars.
She refused a ride but let us walk her home. We walked arm and arm while I carried home her groceries and Ed and I basically just let her talk to us. She didn't come across terribly lonely, but that that's "Greatest Generation" bullshit that my grandparents did. All people that age never let on to how bad things really are-- they were raised to put up and shut up. Thinking about that as I type this, I can't help but wonder that if when we are elderly, they will call us the Most Annoying Generation or The Self-Obsessed Generation. I can't imagine anyone I know ever quietly accepting that their friends are all dead and they live thousands of miles away from their only living relatives. I can't even shut up about the fact that my cellphone is broken.
When we got to her apartment, we walked her upstairs and gave her hugs. We promised to take her to lunch sometime and take her for a big grocery order where she could get all the food she wanted and not just what she could carry. I really hope that we follow through on it. Cliche as it sounds, talking to her today and walking her four blocks to her home gave me a lot more than it gave her.
So, I just got back to LA from a weekend in Boston. I miss it already.
I'll post pictures and maybe a video soon, but here's a couple things I want to say:
1) The Hello...Shovelhead! show this weekend was amazing. My friends are very talented and I was a part of something extremely special. There's no way that I'd be doing what I do if it wasn't for that experience and the people I shared it with.
2) My mom's store is awesome. If you live in Massachusetts, go check out her store in Needham or any of the other locations (I'm also partial to the Newbury St. one-- great designer deals.)
3) One of my all time greatest friends and my (most frequent) Shovelhead writing partner Ryan is moving out to LA soon. I'm blogging this because when I blog things, they become fact.
4) Today is my fake boyfriend Ed's birthday... I made him this to celebrate:
Last night we went to St. Nick's and Bergen's.