A Memorable Moment: Spike’s rooming house
It was one week before Christmas, so I asked Spike if he had any plans for the holiday. He mentioned he might go and see his dad.
He had difficulty getting to the washroom right across the hall (which I visited for only a brief moment – the absolute dirtiest I had ever visited – and I’ve been around a bit), and I wondered how he could find or get to a phone. “Here, use my cell phone” I said, and passed it to him. He left a message for his dad, I cleaned up again, Spike had a change of clothing, I left more fruit and promised a return visit.
On the drive home, my cell phone rang: “Jeff there?” the gruff voice sounded. Oh, I thought, Spike’s real name is Jeff! I told Spike’s dad that his son was pretty sick and wanted to visit his dad over Christmas.
Well, his transmission in his truck needed some attention, and well, he was very busy, and oh yes, “You should talk to Jeff about smoking. Did you tell him he should stop smoking?”
I removed the phone from my ear and stared at it in disbelief. “No, actually I didn’t talk to him about smoking. He’s pretty sick. He asked to see you.” Twice more he insisted that Jeff needs to ‘kick that stinkin’ habit’ and that he would be better off if he did so. I tried to help him understand that his son was really quite sick and asked for his dad. In the end he made a weak promise to visit Jeff and our call was over.
Question: What do you think Spike was looking for?