Homeless - 55

Hello,


Yes, I can pitch a bitch sometimes and there are other times that I can rant. The last couple of entries did visit some issues that touch us all in varying degrees of pain and discomfort.You should hear the arguments and rabid discussions that I have with myself at the odd moments, especially when there is no one in the vicinity. I hope that you have intelligent, unbiased and articulate humans around that you can talk with about these issues; to marvel and wonder at the intelligence, moral structure and thought processes of our political and corporate leaders as they unerringly and without fail, select the best option for the people of this great land that they serve. It does help to express such views among ourselves, to relieve the pressure of impotence and frustration that we experience in our attempt to exist peacefully within such boundaries and mainly, to keep our young hides from climbing to a high vantage point with weapon. Myself, I don't have that luxury beyond the act of writing about it. The people in my current world - well, I don't have the depth of relationship to talk of such things with them or I'm unwilling to attempt to assay the depth of their social awareness and conscience or I keep interactions with the dumb asses superficial or our lives are such that we don't have the time or energy to devote to those topics or... other reasons. Anyway, let's return the focus to me and my immediate world because, after all, it is all about me.


There have been several homeless people that I've encountered in my range and interacted with in varying degrees. The media does portray homeless people in a somewhat unfavorable light, labeling them as uncontrollable drug addicts, gypsies, tramps and thieves. Other descriptions include individuals with psychological/emotional issues, people who lack marketable skills, initiative, education or goals. I don't see myself in any of those categories - could be wrong and if I am, please come shoot me now. I can see why the average person is somewhat apprehensive of interactions with such people and upon an encounter, immediately reach for and activate their 12 mm armor piercing Gatling gun that they have on their key chain that has an attached 2000 round ammo tub. The following is a sample of my interactions with other homeless people in my general area. Names are not included, their ethnic heritage and general appearance are and my proposed resolutions regarding their existence is presented for your perusal. All the information included is from them and I have no way of verifying their life conditions.


The first one is a transplant from Michigan who came to the Dallas area via a job transfer in the chemical industry and subsequently experienced a company force reduction. He's African-American, 5'10", medium build, mid-40's, has a cellphone, appearance OK, short hair and sometimes shaved. He sleeps in his Jeep Cherokee in the area on a side street. Talking with him has yielded that he came up with similar alternatives of getting by, though it does seem that I was more fortunate or analytical or better in achieving the maximum yield of the current situation. I advised him of a couple of places to get quality 'samples' and a place to work out. Some time ago, he got a job as a hotel desk clerk working nights, a place where he could sleep and attend to hygiene and stuff. His goal was to accumulate enough cash to get a job in a nearby Texas suburb at a company that was in his area of expertise. I didn't see him for several weeks and thought that he had accomplished his goals toward a better life - ehh, not so. I saw him recently and he gave me this bullshit story of how the hotel environment was dangerous and he quit for personal safety concerns. According to him, there was a working meth lab onsite and hookers constantly present as well as other unfavorable types. HELLO, CALL THE COPS!!! As it ended up, he worked there for almost two months and thought he qualified for unemployment benefits of which I had to break the news to him. He also asked about the 'stimulus check' package and I told him that he didn't qualify due to minimum income constraints. He then said he needed an address and asked if he could use mine (earlier in the relationship, I had mentioned that a friend of mine offered the use of his address and I accepted). I said I wouldn't feel comfortable with that and he asked why. I replied that the friend offered that option to me, not to the world at large and I would feel like I breached a trust if I requested an additional responsibility. The guy pressed further, trying out a guilt trip on me, and I said no and that my mind could not be altered on this issue, end of discussion. I haven't seen him for awhile.


The second homeless human is of European descent, late 20's maybe early 30's, medium build, around 6'0" tall, short light brown hair, scruffy looking in appearance and clothes and just fucking goofy. There is a stretch of woods nearby that I think he sleeps in and hangs out. Every time I see him, he is wearing a brightly colored back pack which has seen better days and he could use a cleansing procedure. Apparently, he hasn't considered a chlorine-based solution at this time. He is soft spoken when he does speak and has the behavioral characteristics of a religious monk. I have given him a cigarette on occasion and he quietly thanked me with some sort of hand gestures over his mid-section and a slight bow. One time he remained within a few meters of BT and started quoting some religious stuff, something about the 'immaculate conception' and I decided it was time for BT and me to relocate. I need to check those woods for shrooms. At another time, I saw him at a distance in a parking lot, vigorously waving his arms about and saying something at cars that passed by him, in broad daylight. If you take his appearance and mode of behaviour into account, it would be a safe assumption that this guy does not blend harmoniously into the municipal infrastructure. My interactions with him have been severely limited due to diligence on my part and the kindness of destiny.


The last individual is an African-American, a slender 6'1" or 2" that heralds from the LA area, late 20's, sporting a mustache/goatee combo, braided hair and has an acceptable appearance consisting of contemporary gym attire. I met him last summer a the free workout facility and for 3 - 4 weeks, our interactions were genial, never going beyond 'how is it going?' stage. Well, I caught him a couple of times sleeping in the facility around 4 AM (had to use the bathroom in a very bad way!) and I mentioned to him not to 'fuck this up', meaning access to the facility which has a security camera. He didn't reply and started ignoring me from that time, as he does when he concludes that he can't get anything from you, as I found out later from a couple of people. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a laptop and would use it in the workout facility constructing music... all hours, all the time. I think he was 'riding' on someone's wireless signal. He would sit by one of the doors of the facility that he propped open because it was cold if you weren't working out like the rest of us, and sweating even more due to the coolness escaping. One of the residents went to close the door to conserve the AC and he freaked out saying he needed the door open. People became even more nervous of him. I think that he lost the laptop due to the owner of the broadband signal that he was pirating complaining to the relevant authorities. One of the property pools is next to the facility and during the course of last summer, the residents put together what they all knew of him. He came to Dallas from LA following a woman who had a son by him. Apparently, she realized her mistake and moved to Dallas but he found out and followed with the idea of obtaining custody of the son. He had no job, no transport and carried his belongings in a yellow duffel bag and lived in the workout facility - with full knowledge of the apartment management and he was trashing the place. It seemed he hung out there, watching TV and sleeping. Residents started complaining due to his 'creep factor' and the response of the management was to advise the residents to call the cops. He started to get dangerously weird around this time but I thought it was just me thinking that. The red flag had already gone up in my mind when he wanted to know where I parked my truck when I walked there and I thought 'umm'. On more than one occasion, women working out when he showed up asked me to hang out until they were finished. It seems that he would hit on them and his technique creeped them out. I think that they had come to trust me since I did spend time at that pool and I showed some of the residents how to utilize a tube-floaty-thingy with a hole down the middle as a makeshift beer-bong and mentioned that it was an old Jedi trick. I think he picked up the vibe that I didn't care for him and he kept to himself, watching TV while I was around. It seemed he should have picked up the vibe that the people didn't want him hanging around. There were a couple of times I saw him crossing a parking lot, alone at night, talking loudly about something. As things turn out, he's not there anymore due to the fact he started dealing drugs at the facility and the cops finally had leverage to remove him from the property. I still don't understand why the resident complaints, his life situation and how he treated the property wasn't enough for management to eject him from the premises.


So, in summation, people like the three mentioned above probably exist in your world also and I wish to god that our country had some type of duelling code that could be employed to address similar situations, especially like the last one. They could be your neighbors, someone at your workplace or, more likely, your boss. Gee, a duelling code would come in handy at the old performance review, eh? As it is, preemptive strikes at a personal level are prohibited by law...dammit. And maybe the media is more correct than it knows when it portrays the homeless based on the sampling presented here.


As for my proposed solutions regarding the three homeless people described - well, let's borrow again the situation of those three and myself trapped on a desert island. The first one is too whiny, manipulative, pouty, unwilling to adapt, lies and I lack confidence in his ability and willingness to contribute. Yep, dead before sundown. The second one has an element of instability that I'm uncomfortable with plus he lacks a confident, assertive demeanor. It seems that he also has a fatalistic characteristic that is antithetical to the endeavors of survival.. Ditto, dead before sundown. The third one - let's see...lemme think...psychological/emotional instability, completely oblivious to environmental cues, selfish, uncaring of fellow humans...oh yeah, I'd snap his fucking neck before we abandoned ship to begin the long swim to the island or maybe I'd just break his leg and throw him overboard, hoping the sharks would be diverted to him for awhile. As it is, I already have a couple of issues to conclude before sundown so that I can sleep in the coming night with the stars twinkling above and a soft ocean breeze cooling me as I slumber peacefully on the beach, dozing to the rhythm of the gently rolling waves and the soothing sounds of the wind caressing the leaves of the swaying palm trees.

Ahhh, sweet untroubled dreams,

David


P.S.

It's a shame that Danica Patrick wasn't able to complete the race due to the dumbness of a fellow driver. From what I've read, he was in the wrong. The picture that I saw of her as she strode over to his pit area looked like she was going to relieve him of a major body organ but security diverted her. Well, maybe there will be another time for a vodka and pineapple drink....