The Mystery of the Sandwich

For the past several weeks, while driving to work, I have seen a man standing at the intersection of Greencastle, PA's main street, and the Exit ramp from I-81, holding a cardboard sign. The sign reads, "STRANDED, please help, God Bless You". I admit that I feel somewhat disturbed about not donating to this man, but the fact is, he doesn't look like he has missed many meals. (He is not the man in the picture) This man is well fed, wears clean, unwrinkled clothes, and he is clean and shaven. In fact, he looks less like a homeless person than I do. I have never spoken to him, so I confess I don't know his circumstances. I suppose if I did talk with him, there is no guarantee that I would get a factual story from him.

Last week the spot on which he stands was vacant for the entire week.

Except for the part of his sign that reads "help".

And a sandwich.

That's what I said. A sandwich. There on the ground, at the foot of the stop sign, lay a square of cardboard with the single word, "help", and next to that, a plastic baggie containing what appeared to be a bologna sandwich on wheat bread.

It was sealed.

Somehow the circumstances of this scene has fascinated me. I wanted to know what had happened to this man. Had he been run off rather hurriedly, so quickly, in fact, that he left his sandwich behind? Had he been arrested? Had someone came along and offered him work, and hope, and a meal? If so, why was his sign torn in pieces and why did he only leave the one piece behind? Why would he have taken the rest of the sign with him? Had something more sinister happened to him?

These questions dogged me the next few days after his disappearance, but for some reason, I was more fascinated by the sandwich. For the next 3 days that sandwich, in it's sealed baggie, lay there untouched and undisturbed and seemingly unspoiled within the safety of it's protective plastic baggie. In nearly 100 degree heat.

Get the picture?

But the most fascinating part was the scene I came across on the 4th day following the man's mysterious disappearance. The man was not there, and the sign was no longer there, and the sandwich was gone, but the baggie remained. As I sat there in my car, waiting for traffic to clear so I could turn left, I had time to examine the baggie more closely (without getting out of my car) and it appeared unviolated.

Unopened and unravaged.

At first I thought that maybe animals had managed to chew through the protective wrapping and purloin the now three day old sandwich. But my closer examination revealed no signs of violation. It appeared still sealed. And yet, the sandwich, in it's entirety, was gone.

Perplexing.

My obsession with the fate of a bologna sandwich on wheat bread is troubling to me.

The next day, the man was back, and has been there every day since, and other than a new sunburn, seemingly none the worse for wear. But the fate of the sandwich still concerns me. The thought that the man may have eaten it after three days left alone in the hot sun seems to be the only logical conclusion. I don't want to think about that.

But I can't seem to think of anything else.

Note from your humble friend and uneducated blogger:
Please go visit my friend, Wordsmith from Nantucket's place, called Hammering Sparks from the Anvil. His comments are alway well thought out and insightful, not to mention well written.

Lie Of The Day:
"Look, Lads! We can bash Bush too!" the Rolling Stones seem to be saying with the release of their new song "My Sweet Neo-Con." Desperation has clearly set in. Why are the Stones going so obviously political after four decades in the music biz? "We have lots of [new material] -- it's not like we're just eking it out," frontman Mick Jagger contends.


THE TRUTH:
Not "eking" it out, huh? Well, let's take a look at some lyrics from "My Sweet Neo-Con." "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/You call yourself a patriot, well I think you're full of sh**." Real creative!

Note #2:
I found the above picture on Google. I didn't notice at the time but that guy looks familiar. And now I know why. He's General Zod, from the movie, "Superman II"!