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WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND - TWOFOLD; AIDING WOMAN, 91, MAN'S ONLY CHOICE.


Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
  • Dennis McCarthy (composer), (born 1945), an American composer
  • Dennis McCarthy (congressman), (19th century) Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1885
  • Dennis McCarthy MBE (radio presenter), British radio presenter
 

Danny Alcala could have easily hung up the phone that day and convinced himself that Gladys Mackay's problem was somebody else's worry, certainly not his.

But he didn't. He made it his problem, too.

And that makes this guy aces in my book. Makes him and his three sons the kind of people we all want to know because they possess a spirit and attitude that a lot of old-timers in this town figure has been dead and buried for a while now.

Danny Alcala gives a damn.

And because he does, 91-year-old Gladys Mackay is sleeping soundly these nights, feeling as secure as any of us can while wondering if El Nino is hype or the real thing.

This story begins in Gladys' mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam).  shortly before Thanksgiving with a newsletter published every three months or so by Alcala, who is president of Comfort Realty realty n. a short form of "real estate." (See: real estate)


REALTY. An abstract of real, as distinguished from personalty. Realty relates to lands and tenements, rents or other hereditaments. Vide Real Property.
 in Sun Valley.

Like a lot of people, Gladys is confused over this issue of secession and what it means to the people living in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley

Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills.
 as far as utilities, police and fire services
"Fire Services" also refers to fire fighting services.


Fire Services (Chinese:消防) is a Hong Kong football club. The majority of the players are working for the Fire Services Department in Hong Kong and playing for the club on
, and that sort of thing.

Alcala wrote an article on secession, and Gladys called him up to ask him a few questions. While they talked, the topic of El Nino also came up.

Gladys told Danny she was looking for Looking for

In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with.
 some sand-filled bags to put around the front door of her Strathern Street home because her yard always floods when it rains.

As a Realtor, Danny knew the area well. Strathern, near Lankershim Boulevard, where Gladys lives, turns into a lake when it rains hard, and El Nino portended very hard rain.

Danny asked her if she had contacted the Fire Department, and Gladys said she had, but they could only give her the bags, not the sand.

Where was a 91-year-old woman living alone supposed to find enough sand to fill up 50 bags or so? And even if she found it, would she possess the physical stamina Stamina
Staying power, endurance.

Mentioned in: Tai Chi
 and strength to fill them up, and place them around her house?

No way, Danny Alcala knew. This woman had a problem, but was it his problem? Not really. Aside from a five-minute telephone chat, he knew absolutely nothing about Gladys Mackay.

But he knew a heck heck  
interj.
Used as a mild oath.

n. Slang
Used as an intensive: had a heck of a lot of money; was crowded as heck.



[Alteration of hell.
 of a lot about himself, and about the way he's raised his sons.

You don't turn your back on people who need your help, he always preaches to his boys. You treat people the way you'd want them to treat you, and remember this because it's a fact of life, boys - what goes around comes around, twofold.

So instead of wishing Gladys Mackay good luck that day, and telling her to keep her fingers crossed that El Nino was nothing but hype, Danny Alcala told her he'd get back to her soon.

He went over to the local fire station and picked up 60 bags, then he and his three boys - Danny Jr., 23, Robert, 20, and Christopher, 6 - hopped in the family's beat-up old pickup truck, and drove to a sand pit off the Foothill Freeway, where they filled every one of those bags.

The next morning, Thanksgiving Day morning, Danny Alcala and his boys knocked on Gladys Mackay's front door, and asked: ``Where would you like us to put these sandbags sandbags

small sacks containing sand used to support an anesthetized animal in dorsal recumbency and prevent it from rolling sideways during anesthesia or surgery.
, ma'am?''

It takes a lot to get to her these days, Gladys Mackay says. She's been disappointed and taken so often by cheats and crooks, shysters and con men, that her trust in anyone outside her own daughters is pretty shaky.

Danny Alcala and his boys got to her. Got to her in a way she never thought possible anymore, not at her age and seeing all she's seen of life.

``A total stranger and his family took time on a holiday to help me,'' she says. ``I could hardly believe it. It restored my faith in human nature, a thing that has been sorely sore·ly  
adv.
1. Painfully; grievously.

2. Extremely; greatly: Their skills were sorely needed.
 tried these past years.''

A couple of days ago, Danny was driving by Gladys' place with 6-year-old Christopher in the car.

The boy looked out the window and said to his father, ``I hope that nice lady isn't flooded no more Dad.''

Danny looked over at his son and smiled, proud that he remembered. ``So do I son,'' he said. ``So do I.''

What goes around comes around - twofold.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Danny Alcala and his son, Christopher, helped Gladys Mackay sandbag Sandbag

A stalling tactic used by management to deter a company that is showing interest in taking them over.

Notes:
The company stalls in hopes that a more favorable company will take them over.
 her yard against the expected El Nino rain.

Evan Yee/Daily News
COPYRIGHT 1997 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Dec 12, 1997
Words:754
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