Daddy's Little Deadhead

Maui is over-run with a group of people some of us refer to as "Daddy's Littel Deadheads".

They arrive on a plane from god knows where, with a hiking backpack that cost them several hundred dollars, pack with the very latest in gear. They have a cellphone, a platinum Amex, and an attitude.

They are "peace loving" but they are frequently drunk, or high, or both - which leads to numerous confrontations.

They hitch hike. (See above: they are usually too stoned to operate a vehicle...or remember where they parked it.)

You will see them sitting along the planter in front of Borders, charging their GPS-enabled worldphone with the outlet on the outside of the building.

They have dreadlocks, but mostly by default. That is what happens when you don't bathe very often. And no, swimming in the ocean does NOT count.

And last night, I saw one of them, sitting so smug and self-assured.....and I just had to shake my head and walk on by. This guy was sitting in the middle of Costco. He was sitting on a floor model desk chair, with a massaging back pad. He was leaned back (almost reclined) with this stupid, stoned-out-of-his-gourd grin on his face. He was dirty. He was greasy. He was really enjoying that massage.

And he was wearing a shirt.

It was a plaid, flannel shirt. It was from the stack of flannel shirts across the way. It still had price tags and the sticker on the front showing the size (Large).

And there he sat. Porbably taking a break between picking up his free samples of food being handed out, maybe thinking about taking a dump in their nice clean bathroom and refilling his $50 stainless steel waterbottle from the fountain before trying on some new socks and underpants. Oh wait, he probably didn't wear either of those.

But I digress.

I was walking through Costco, worried about the bills and the jobs and the kids........and this guy was just sitting there, happy go lucky. Not a care in the world.

Dude.

And for a minute, just a tiny, flash of a moment in time, I was jealous.

No bills.
No job.
No responsibilities.
Enough time to find joy in a massaging desk chair in the middle of Costco.

Must be nice.