Archive for the 'being thankful' Category

The good judge

February 9, 2007

Please, judge, may I have some more?

TONY
“I never told you about Judge Chamberlain. She was the best judge I ever met.

“See, when I was 13, I got sent up to the boy’s training school for 6 months because of truancy and that sort of thing. It wasn’t too bad there; I learned some stuff, and at least I didn’t have to live at home. Home was a bad mess.

“So after my 6 months was up, I got out and went before this judge, Judge Chamberlain. I asked if she could just send me back to training school since I sure didn’t want to go back home. So she sent me back to training school for 9 more months, and I got my chef’s certificate so I could cook in restaurants and cafeterias. So when I got out, I went back to her courtroom and I thanked her, right there in the courtroom. She even came down from the bench and gave me a really big hug.

“You know, there’s some pretty good judges out there.”

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Update on Tony: He’s in the Don Jail for another 5 days, at least. His health is better (and he’s warm and fed), but he did seem pale and a bit low key when I visited him yesterday. There are further court dates coming up. Alice Barton, a lawyer with Derstine Penman, is helping Tony out. Tony wanted to pass along his thanks to everyone who’s expressed support.

Posted in 311 jarvis, Alice Barton, being thankful, choices, cook, cooking, Derstine Penman, house chores, judge, Judge Chamberlain, justice, juvenile detention, missing her, really big hug, training school, try again | 6 Comments »

Getting high, getting up

January 9, 2007

Windows for washing

TONY
“Hey Phil, I’ve got a good headline for the next time we put something on the Internet. How about we do something about the time when ‘Tony got high’?

“Here’s how it goes. A while back, I cleaned windows for a living. Not for the street level; you can’t make any money there and there’s too much competition. I used to work on those platforms with the ropes that you see on the highrises.

“When I was doing a building once where luckily they were doing renovations below, I fell off. It was a few stories on the way down, let me tell you. I fell flat down on my back into the mud, in a kind of like a gingerbread man shape, pretty deep in the mud, which was there because of the renovating. So the guys on the ground, they couldn’t find me. All they saw was my plaform hanging ass-over-tea kettle and no one up there. I was right in the mud but they couldn’t see me. Anyway, I wasn’t hurt but they couldn’t find me until I got out of the mud myself.”

Posted in be thankful, being thankful, get lucky, getting high, getting up, gingerbread man, mud, self-reference, window cleaning, window washing | 7 Comments »

From Tony’s cold case files

December 24, 2006

Tony describes a case

TONY
“I’ve got this regular, she comes by most days. Now this one’s a real case. It’s always the same thing. Maybe she’s got a thing for me. Anyway, she’s goes on about how I should take better care of myself like I should go to the shelters, I should get the free meals at places they have for homeless folks — she doesn’t stop. Then she tells me that there’s a nice soup kitchen up at Eglinton [approx. 5 miles away]. Of course, for her it’s not too far but I’ve only got my bike. Anyway, I’ve told her a hundred times that they won’t feed me there anyway since I’m not from the area. So then she starts going on about how I’ve got stuff to be thankful for anyway, since I’ve got my health and that kind of stuff. Anyway she goes on like that for an hour and then she goes up the street and she hardly ever leaves me anything. She’s pretty unbelievable.”

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PS: Per our posting on Dec. 20th for those wishing to give money to Tony, bank accounts have now been opened at Scotiabank. Particulars will be available here next week, once the branches have been notified, etc. The intent is to enable anyone in Canada to securely and transparently give money to Tony and/or to registered charities that are focussed on homelessness. Given the season, all of this is taking a bit longer than normal. Thanks for your interest and support.

Posted in advice, be thankful, being thankful, choices, cold, cold case, flapping gums, real case, registered charities, shelters, soup kitchen, unbelievable | 25 Comments »

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