Winocerous: A Memory on Father’s Day
When my older son was
still a little guy, my Saturday
Morning Sidekick, we were stopped
at a light next to Triangle Park
on a hot August day with
the windows rolled down. He
was caught up in the wonder
of the fountains and I was
casually observing some
unwashed dudes on the corner
just a few feet away. He broke our
comfortable silence by asking me:
“Dad, what do winos eat?”.
In great detail I explained to him
the concept of panhandling, the
merits of dumpster diving and how
one takes advantage of the
Salvation Army soup du jour.
I was quick to point out that their
first priority was procuring cheap
alcohol. “Oh,” he said with a thoughtful
look. “I thought they just ate gwass”.
2 thoughts on "Winocerous: A Memory on Father’s Day"
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With a kid’s simple sense of reality, he saw these “winos” as men who just live outdoors and graze on “gwass” Unforgettable story!
nicely told exposition of how we judge people and subconsciously pass those judgements to our offspring
really like your structure of stanzas and line breaks