Opinion: James brings Christmas to Half Moon Bay

I don’t like people much, you know. I find people kind of nasty and aggressive. The stupid teenage warriors in Iraq and all that

The people I like, like my wife’s friends who call themselves the cupcakes, with their silver and golden streaks of goodness inside them, are far and few between. And it cuts me off. And I don’t want to write anymore. Why would you want to perform, do anything for "them?"

But in my little town of Half Moon Bay I see James, He’s an elderly black man, homeless, who lives in a tent down by the creek. And I like James, I like his style. He’s always dressed in clean clothes, something special, you see him in matching khaki pants and shirt and a safari hat on his head, or a black sweater with a black beret, as he walks the homeless rounds around the town. I give him five dollars whenever I see him, because I like his style. And I pull up and say, "Hi James, how’s it going?" and I give him the money. And he always gives me a true smiling look, as my grandmother would say, "pleased as punch" and I feel a little freer.

And today for Christmas, I pulled up to James in my new car that I like to drive. And I said, "Happy holidays, James!" as I gave him ten dollars. And he said, "I have a Christmas present for you." And he went to open the grocery bag he had under his arm. And I said, "That’s okay, James," Meaning no, because I didn’t want to take something he might really need. And he said, "It’s a Christmas ornament." And I knew it would be a sin if I didn’t take his gift. And I said, "Okay." And he reached into his bag and gave me a beautiful trumpeting silver and brass angel. And it was heavy in my hand as the heart I daily carried. And I said thanks. And wished him a happy holidays as I drove away.

And as I drove to work, through the traffic and snarls, I felt the sunlight again. And I thought how I own a million dollar house, and James lives in a tent, And he gave me a gift.

Me, a gift.

And that’s why I cried. Man, I just couldn’t stop crying as I drove. Because a homeless man gave me a gift that put my world back in place.

All glory to James.