Miss Birdie and the Cat's Pajamas

Why, Lizzie Beth, how glad I am to see you! Lay that wet jacket there by the stove and come get you a chair.

No. I ain't busy -- jest settin here feeling kindly down in my spirits. These short days and dark clouds take me thataway sometimes. But mostly I been thinking on last night.

Well, you see, yesterday evening Bernice come by and wanted me to come with her into Asheville to see the Christmas lights. And I'll not deny, they are a sight on earth. How they get them in some of those high up places, you'd not credit. I hate to think what the electric bill will be for some of them places. . .

Well, Bernice drove us right into downtown, where I ain't been in many a year, and I could hardly believe all the changes there was - great new buildings and people everywhere and some right quare-lookin folks at that . . . 

 But what else I saw . . . there was this one woman pushing an old shopping buggy, just piled high with bags and I says to Bernice, 'Well, she's doing a plenty of shopping,' and Bernice looks at me all pitiful like and says, "Birdie, honey, that woman's likely homeless -- there's a sight of 'em here in Asheville. The things in that buggy is probably everything she owns.'

Well, I don't hardly believe what she begins to tell me but then she takes and drives to this place where you can see up under this bridge there are pieces of cardboard and old blankets and such and she says that's one of the places some of those folks sleep. Can you imagine? . . . 

Now I was brought up without much -- plenty would say I was poor -- but there was always food and a bed and wood for a fire. Even during the Great Depression, things didn't change much -  we still had food and a roof over our heads. 

Bernice went on tell me about how there was shelters for these folks but there wasn't always enough places and it made me think of the little baby Jesus and no place to lay his head and just about then, here come a commercial on the car radio -- Bernice had it on a station playing Christmas carols -- and the commercial was a lady selling pajamas -- talking about sending pajamas for a Christmas present.

Oh, you've heard it too.  Yeah, boy, there's this woman telling how they had pajamas to fit everyone in the family, big and small, young and old. Why, she even said -- and this is this part I been studying on -- they had pajamas to fit  your dog and your cat.

So I reckon that's how come I to be so low today -- just setting here thinking about those folks without nare bed to sleep in whilst other folks is buying pajamas for their pets.

I tell you, Lizzie Beth, it just don't seem right.