On the Streets Again

After setting two of my alarms and one of PJ's, I jumped out of bed this morning with a start, brewed a cup of tea, sneaked in some early morning reading, and drove in to work at 2:07am. Nothing was going to keep me from completing the last day of surveying the homeless in Venice.

Eddie (whose job is to know and serve the homeless daily), Sean, officer Jerry and I hit the streets for the final time this week. After a few minutes, we found Pat (not the real name) who was washing clothes in a drinking fountain and agreed to talk with us. Pat was happy and tangential, and explained that when the marriage became violent, Pat came out of the closet and has been on the streets for the last 7 years. I wish I could show you the picture of Pat and I beaming at the camera.

Eddie woke up Kylie (again the name has been changed) who was asleep in a car and managed to get Kylie to complete a survey. I genuinely felt bad for Kylie who was reluctant to be photographed when the first five flash photos were blurry.

Last story—earlier in the night we pulled into another parking lot with probably 15 homeless people camping out there. I hovered over one sleeping bag, calling out Wakey! Wakey! and other such enticing phrases for several minutes before an angry woman sat straight up. Didn't you hear my uncle say leave us alone?? she hissed. There was no else around, and no one had said anything.

Living on the streets for years at a time changes people's minds. I think this lady had already snapped and may even have become violent if I kept harassing her. Notice that I didn't say the streets make you crazy. I'm not convinced that these people are crazy. I think that they think differently than I do, but I'm not sure that makes them crazy. Is it wrong to have a mind that works differently? Sure this lady may hallucinate (and that's a problem), but is it wrong to not want to participate in society? On the other hand, everyone should have the help they need to move back into housing and get a job, etc. if they want to.

Well, I'll be back in the office tomorrow, but first Sean and I are off to watch Star Trek!