whirlofwings

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Today, I got lost in Manhattan. As I stood on the sidewalk trying to get someone’s attention for a little assistance, 25+ well dressed business folks blazed by me, purposely avoiding eye contact. Finally a teenager with spiked green hair and a pierced lip stopped, smiled and gave me perfect directions. MMT

Today in the McDonalds line, a mother and her young son ordered their food. The boy then said, "And I want ice-cream!" She scolded him and said, "You need to eat real food! No ice-cream until you eat your Big Mac!" MMT

Today, I was sitting on my front porch watching the neighbor's kid have the time of his life with nothing more than a wooden stick and his imagination. MMT

Today, my 21 year old son's alternative rock band received a record deal from a major record label. I spent the last 5 years trying to convince him that college was the smarter way to go. But he stood his ground and pursued his dream. And now he's living it. MMT

Today, I realized that some of the most interesting and insightful people in my life are the ones who made me think, "What a weirdo…" when I first met them. MMT

Today in downtown San Diego, I watched a blue collar Mexican man get harassed for being Mexican. It was a blatant act of discrimination. And the man actually began crying. As he left the office building, he took off his jacket. His t-shirt underneath read, "I love the USA!" MMT

Today, I had a conversation with my grandfather about relationships. I told him I've always wondered how people stay attracted to their spouses for decades when their looks change so drastically. He smiled and replied, "Change? I still wake up next to the same beautiful woman I fell in love with 50 years ago." MMT

Today, our office janitor was promoted to executive assistant. The CEO’s rational: “Any man that can maintain his level of positivity while cleaning up after us all day every day is a man I need around me more often. I’m confident I can teach him the rest.” MMT

Today, while I was driving my grandfather to his doctor's appointment, I complained about hitting 2 red lights in a row. My grandfather chuckled and said, "You always complain about the red lights, but you never celebrate the green ones." MMT

Today, nearly a year after her suicide, four different people posted comments on her Facebook wall telling her how wonderful she was. Since her death, there have been over 1200 comments like these left on her Facebook wall. Before her death, there were hardly any. MMT

Today, at work, a woman and her young daughter came to my register. The girl was hugging her mother's leg and being very well behaved. She kept saying, “I love you mommy.” Suddenly, her mom jerked her leg and said, "Get off!" The young girl walked 15 feet behind her mother the whole way to their car. MMT

Today, my daughter who struggled to get C's in grade school owns a multi-million dollar cosmetics company. My daughter who was in the gifted program in grade school is happily employed as a kindergarten teacher making $35K a year. MMT

Today, I saw a well-groomed woman at the grocery store pull food stamps out of her Louis Vuitton purse while using her fake, salon-styled nails to text on her BlackBerry. MMT

Today, I stuck my hand into my coat pocket and found a 5 dollar bill wrapped around a note. The note read, "You have just been reverse-pick-pocketed. Enjoy the 5 dollars, and know that it was forcibly received by your pocket. Take that, society!" MMT

Today, my next door neighbor’s kids were screaming and being rowdy again. So I slammed my windows shut and ignored the noise. Then my doorbell rang. It was the boy from next door. He cried, “Didn’t you hear me screaming? Help me! Hurry!” His sister hit her head in the pool and drowned. The paramedics said she could have lived if someone had gotten to her sooner. MMT

Today, at the train stop near the hospital a man and his 3 kids got on. The kids were loud and out of control. An annoyed passenger asked, “Is there a reason you’re letting your kids go nuts?” The man sighed and said, “The doc just told me their mother isn’t going to make it. Sorry, I’m just trying to think before I tell them.” MMT

Today, I'm a neurosurgery candidate, going under the knife in 2 days. Last month I was a healthy 24 year old female athlete. Today, signed a DNR, just in case I come out as a vegetable. Today, I had to make a living will. Is it really my time? In 48 hours I’ll find out. MMT

Today, after eating lunch, I walked out of a restaurant carrying a box of leftovers. A homeless man came up to me and asked if he could have some of the food. I ignored him and kept walking. Two minutes later, I tripped over a curb and spilled the leftovers all over the sidewalk. MMT

Today when I read the news about the healthcare debate, I thought of my dad, who died of colon cancer at 86. When the doctor told him he could have 6 to 8 more weeks with chemo and radiation, my dad was horrified. "Spend Medicare money on me when there are kids without health insurance? I'm 86!" MMT

Today, I read about Obama protestors marching down public streets carrying loaded fire-arms. These protestors were not arrested. But gay and lesbian protestors elsewhere in this country have been harassed and arrested for simply holding hands and marching in solidarity. MMT

Today, I was looking through the Facebook remembrance groups of two people that died from my high school. The girl was sweet, smart, quiet and unpopular. She was killed by a drunk driver. The guy was inconsiderate, rude and popular. He was the drunk driver. His group has 602 members. Hers has 48. MMT

Today, I met a cute white guy at a local bar. In conversation he mentioned that he supports same sex marriages. I politely asked him if he was gay. He chuckled and said, "My mom supported the Civil Rights Movement. Do I look black to you?" MMT

Today, I heard another Michael Jackson song on the radio. For the last 15 years up until the day he died, it seemed like everyone thought he was a freak. Now, all I hear are MJ songs on the radio and people calling him a musical genius. It's like the world forgot what they had until it was gone. MMT

Today, I went ice skating. Everyone skating was young, except one guy in his mid-50’s. He kept falling down and smiling. And all the kids kept laughing along with him. I asked him why he decided to skate today. He said, "I was at work earlier and realized I had never been ice skating. So here I am." MMT

Today, a homeless man whom I recognize from around the neighborhood came into my bakery and purchased a large birthday cake (I gave him a 40% discount). I curiously watched as he walked the cake across the street to another homeless man. The other man started laughing and then the two men hugged. MMT

Today, I work for a charity in Harlem. The largest charity donation we received all year was donated by a prominent drug dealer and gang leader that lives in the neighborhood. MMT

Today, I met a movie star celebrity who has been one of my idols since I was a kid. He was a total jerk in real life. MMT

Today, I ran into a guy I used to tease and pick on in high school. I ran into him at a job interview. He was the interviewer. MMT

Today, the world lost a great person to suicide simply because two ‘good Christian’ parents refused to accept their child for who he really was. MMT

Today, I dressed up as Santa Claus for a Santa Claus themed pub crawl in Chicago. All the kids we passed on the street loved the costumes. A little girl came up to me at one point and said, “Santa, do you grant wishes?” I said, “Yes.” She grinned and said, “I wish I didn’t have AIDS anymore.” MMT

Today, I laughed at our new office janitor when he told me smoking cigarettes saved his life. But it turns out he used to work down at the World Trade Center and on September 11th, 2001 he took the elevator down 32 stories to the lobby so he could take a cigarette break approximately 5 minutes before the first plane struck. MMT

Today, at 3:40PM in my San Diego home, I put a gun to my head. Just as I pulled the trigger the ground began violently shaking from an earthquake. I lost my balance, the gun went off, but the bullet missed my body entirely. Tonight, I threw the gun in the ocean. MMT

Today, after evaluating the concerned expression of self-doubt on my face, my mother said, “You just have to do your own thing, your own way, no matter what anyone else thinks or says about you. It's your life!” MMT

Today, just before she closed her eyes, she kissed me and said, “For a moment I was scared because I thought the blood staining our clothes was not mine, but yours, and that I was holding you, not the other way around.” MMT

Today I am in London taking a semester of classes abroad. My twin brother is in the Marines serving his first tour of duty in Iraq. This evening we were both outside talking to each other on the phone. And just when I said, “You feel like a world away,” we both saw the same shooting star. MMT

Today, my 8-year-old daughter came home from school and asked me to find her a website that would help her learn sign language. When I asked her why, she said, “There’s a new girl at school who only speaks sign language, and she doesn’t have anyone to talk to.” MMT

Today at Walmart, I saw a little kid begging his dad for change. His dad gave him four quarters. The kid then quickly walked past the gumball machines and placed each quarter, one at a time, into a donation jar that said, “Buy a starving child a meal this holiday season.” MMT

Today, she’s on trial for killing the man who molested her when she was a little girl. MMT

Today, on my 22nd birthday, I got into the worst argument I’ve ever had with my parents. And just before I ran out their front door crying, my mother shouted, “We do believe in equality! We just don’t want you dating a black man!” MMT

Today, unaware that we were about to tell him that he had been diagnosed with leukemia, my little brother walked in on me and my parents crying at the kitchen table and jokingly said, "Whoa, who's dying?" MMT

Today I took my daughter to the park and a woman warned me that there was a "bum" sleeping on a picnic table by the swings. I stayed away. Shortly after, 2 teenage boys came by and the woman offered the same warning. One of the boys said, "Oh, that's Elmer. I know him. He's homeless. He's my friend." MMT

Today at my college graduation ceremony my grandfather told me, “Once songs were on records, phones were tied down, computers needed rooms and the Internet was fiction. Change the world, Jake. You can.” MMT

Today, my aunt reminded me that I don't have a 12 year old and a 10 year old daughter. I'm 17 and I’ve spent the last 3 years raising my baby sisters while my mom spent most of her time passed out drunk. Now my aunt has custody, but I'm not sure how to be a kid again. MMT

Today, on Christmas Eve, there’s a family of 6 staying at our hotel. They were hanging out in the lobby by the fireplace 10 minutes ago sharing stories and laughing. I asked them where they were from. “Oh, we’re from here,” the father said. “Our house burned down yesterday, but miraculously, all of us got out safely. And that makes this a very merry Christmas.” MMT

Today, a blind stranger told me he could hear the song in my smile. MMT

Today, an 81 year old woman enrolled in my beginner’s computer applications course at the university where I teach. When I asked her why she decided to learn about computers, she said, “I want to learn how to send emails to my boyfriend.” MMT

Today, as a young ‘up and coming’ lawyer, everyone in the firm was congratulating me for winning my first big case this morning. And all day long all I could think about is how I used a technicality in the law to help a murderer walk away a free man. MMT

Today, I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and given 3 to 6 months to live 10 minutes before the hospital realized they mixed up my biopsy results with the patient in the next room. MMT

Today, I make more money serving alcohol to drunks than my brother does teaching high school math and science skills to our youth. MMT

Today, my father told me, "Sometimes, you have to let go of the good things to catch the great ones." MMT

Today, she didn’t know it would be her last, and neither did I. If we had, we would have spent yesterday differently. MMT

Today, the art teacher that helped me rise above my depression by showing me how to channel my feelings into my digital designs, which in turn earned me a full-ride art scholarship, has been fired from my school due to budget cuts. According to the school board, art is no longer considered a vital subject in our school system. MMT

Today, as I was waiting for the bus, a kid I went to grade school with approached me. He was a bully when I knew him in school. He would always tease me and call me names. I was expecting him to say something rude. But instead, he smiled, hugged me and said "You look great." MMT

Today, as I cried alone in my apartment, my best friend wrote this on my Facebook wall: “It wasn’t meant to be. But just think, the guy you will fall in love with, marry and have kids with is walking the planet at this very moment. And even though neither of you know it yet, you both already share certain qualities and personality traits that will someday catch each other’s attention and ignite this amazing love.” MMT

Today, I'm driving my mother to the airport to be deported back to Mexico. MMT

Today, at the age of 22, I found out that because of cervical complications I'll never be able to have children. For as long as I can remember, I didn't ever want kids. But now I cry every time I see a diaper commercial because I never knew I wouldn't have a choice. MMT

Today, after they detained me and took my passport at the airport security checkpoint for “looking different than my passport picture,” the Korean police officer noticed me crying and brought me a juice box and a candy bar from his bagged lunch. MMT

Today, when all of his friends were on a school field trip, my 14-year-old son was donating bone marrow in an effort to help his best friend who is battling cancer. MMT

Today, I walked into a small coffee shop in downtown Dallas around lunchtime and politely asked, "May I please have a Venti Soy Latte?" The guy behind the counter smiled and prepared my latte for me. As I pulled out my money, he said, "The latte is on me. You're the first person all day to say 'please.'" MMT

Today, I saw a homeless woman on a street corner holding a cardboard sign. I recognized her. Her name is Kate. She used to sit next to me in my high school AP English class. MMT

Today, as we were ring shopping together she pointed out several simple wedding bands. She said, “I don’t want anything too fancy or expensive. Anything fancier than these is not a symbol of our love, it’s a symbol of greed.” MMT

Today, in the Mortuary Science Lab at the university, we embalmed a girl who couldn’t have been a day over sixteen. MMT

Today... After 12 years in NYC, despite my fear of heights, I finally took a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. I survived. Despite my fear of darkness, I sat alone this afternoon in a pitch black room for an hour just thinking. I survived. And this evening, despite my fear of being heartbroken again, when he asked me out for the 3rd time, I finally said yes. MMT

Today, like I’ve been doing at least once a week for the last 6 months, I told her I love the artsy bracelets she wears. She always switches them up, and some of them she makes herself. But today she let me in on a secret. She lifted the bracelets to show me the scars on her wrists. She said, “I’m fine now, but there was a time when I wasn’t. I started wearing these bracelets for the wrong reasons, but now they make me smile.” MMT

Today at the airport I saw a father and two sons holding a sign that said, “WELCOME BACK FROM IRAQ MOM!” A minute later the mom walked into the terminal wearing her Army uniform and gave her family the biggest hug I’ve ever seen. Everyone in the terminal started clapping. MMT

Today, my friend told me she didn't mind being legally blind, with only 12% of her vision. She said, "After it rains there's usually a dew left on the grass. And because of the way my eyes refract the light, I see rainbows in the grass." MMT

Today, I met a powerful businessman who is worth 100 million dollars. In conversation he told me he regretted never making it to his son’s hockey games or his daughter’s dance recitals. It made me smile because my dad is probably only worth as much as this man’s last paycheck, but he made it to everything. MMT

Today, I was at the beach and saw a woman painting. The art was beautiful and I complimented her, but she just smiled and pointed to her other artwork nearby. They were all beautiful. I asked her how long she had been painting, but she just pointed to her ears, then her mouth and shook her head. MMT

Today, I exchanged black eyes with a bully at school after I told him to “Piss off!” when he and his obnoxious friends started picking on a freshman with autistic disabilities. And despite getting a week of afternoon detention and an earful from my mother, I would do it again in a heartbeat. MMT

Today, our hotel room in Samalia was broken into. The only thing stolen was bread, crackers, and canned tuna. MMT

Today, a woman began choking in the restaurant while I was on duty. I saved her life by performing the Heimlich. I was the only one staffed who knew the procedure. The woman came back this evening, hugged me, handed me an envelope, and walked out the door. There was $1000 in cash inside. MMT

Today, the homeless man who used to sleep near my condo showed up at my door wearing the business suit I gave him nearly 10 years ago. He said, “I have a home, a job, and a family now. 10 years ago I wore this business suit to all my job interviews. Thank you.” MMT

Today, I went to my 10 year high school reunion. Our prom king is now an overweight bartender. Our prom queen is a recent divorcee with 3 kids. I used to idolize these people. Now I just feel sorry for them. MMT

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of the day I quit my day job to pursue my passion. No, it hasn’t been easy. Yes, money has been tight at times. No, I’m not quite there yet, but I’m still standing and making progress. And yes, it was worth it. MMT

Today, and every day that passes, seems like a gradual decent into a way of life I always assumed I could avoid. MMT

Today, at the age of 16, I found out that I am the only person out of all my friends that is still a virgin. MMT

Today, due to shift reductions at my regular job, I work part time at an animal shelter. I primarily care for injured and abandoned domestic pets. And ever since I started working here, I’ve grown to like animals more and humanity less. MMT

Today, my friend in my Algebra class told me that he can tell how happy or sad I am based on the length of my fingernails. And although I never really thought about it before, he’s 100% right. MMT

Today, I was on a public transit bus when a Catholic nun boarded the bus and sat right next to a Muslim. I listened to them speak peacefully about their own God and beliefs for nearly 30 minutes until I reached my stop. MMT

Today, the supposed 'failure' in my high school showed me his artwork. He's in AP Art II and has created the most amazing artwork I've ever seen. If he hadn't showed me, I would've kept thinking he wasn't going to do anything in life. Maybe grades aren't a fair measure of success. MMT

Today, I teased my 27-year-old cousin when I realized that he was afraid of fireworks... But only until I found out that it's not the fireworks themselves, but the sounds they make that remind him of the gunshots he heard overseas. MMT

Today, I met someone who is making $30,000 a month selling drugs. I make less than that in a year at my legal job. MMT

Today, my company employs 130 intelligent individuals and turns a net profit of nearly $500K a year. I started this company 10 years ago after I was laid off by IBM. If they hadn't laid me off, I might still be working in a cubicle at IBM today. MMT

Today, on the 4th anniversary of my brother's death, I still feel guilty. I was the party animal, he was the good kid. The one time he took my advice to "just let go and have fun," it ended his life. MMT

Today, a year after his death and four months after hers, I still can’t bring myself to delete my parent’s cell phone numbers out of my iPhone. MMT

Today, my 11 year old son brought me his piggy bank containing his life savings (approximately $150) and asked me to drive him to the mall so he could buy the homeless man who always sleeps on the park bench across the street a warmer jacket and blanket. We just got back from the mall. I paid. MMT

Today, I felt lucky to witness the humble, elegant, peaceful death of my partner's 91 year old grandfather. The nurse said, "Everyone dies the way they live." MMT

Today, while driving home and contemplating all the career advice my guidance counselor gave me, I realized how terrified I am by the idea of doing the same thing every day for the next 30 years. MMT

Today, I met a five-year-old on the summit of a 14,000 foot hike. MMT