7/25/2009.

I was attending a block party on good o' Hamlin street (3800 West), between School and Roscoe (3300 North and 3400 North). In the middle of the street was loud music and a video screen, with people dancing. During 1 music, I was waving my arms left and right. I think around 8:15, the guy approaches me and does something similar to what I did and said "This is about all I can do for this song," and I say "Same here."

The thing ended shortly past 9 p.m. At that time, I saw a group of kids with a flashlight. But I could see some of them looking at me as I caught their eye. As I got closer I go "looking for something?" and the kid goes "can I borrow your flashlight?" and I hand him my blue flashlight and another kid goes "can I borrow your flashlight?" and I hand him my 2nd (black) flashlight and a 3rd kid asks the same and I say I'm out of flashlights.

Well, let's say for the next half an hour, I try to keep track of the kids who got my flashlights, and since this story is about how people fail me, you can probably predict what happened. Yes, 1 of the kids gave my back my flashlight. Cool. Then I went to go look for the other kid.

I actually see a younger kid playing with my flashlight. So I stand near them, in front of a front yard of adults sitting on chairs. I do lose sight of the kids. But I see them coming out of the house with my flashlight. Anyways, he eventually gives them to toddlers. Throughout the night I actually see them come in and out of the house with my flashlight, and actually see the flashlight's shine on the ceiling inside. And the flashlights have gone back and forth between the younger kid and the younger toddlers.

But eventually, all the kids go home. And all the adults are out chatting.

It finally ended around 11:40 p.m. At the time most of the chairs were packed up, as I was leaning on 1 arm with my hand covering my face, I heard someone say "Anyone know that guy?" Eventually a woman comes up and says something to me and I get up and she takes my chair and says "Adios."

As she turns around with it I say "I'm actually waiting for my flashlight to return to me." After I pinpoint that that was my flashlight, she calls someone to go inside and ask for the flashlight back. Shorty the father comes out and asks if this was my flashlight and I walk on over and look and say yes. He gives me my flashlight. I tell him "When I loaned my flashlight for the scavenger hunt which ended 2 hours ago, and he said he'll return it after it's done," the father goes "yea?" and I go "I actually thought he meant it," and he goes "ohh okay," and I walk home.

-End of story-

As I was walking home I almost felt like crying but didn't have enough crying fuel to cry, so it became a little stressful and I felt mad. Oh well. My flashlight was wasted for 2 hours!

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This story censors out names. Normally, the whole point of stories like this is to give out their names or identity to point out a case of how bad they are or to protect people that might encounter them from a reoccurring event (like a propaganda). But once the names and identity of the people are stripped, this just reduces this to a study of anthropology and psychology, and for me to systematize a philosophy - finding common reoccurring cases of how humans fail each other.