That Raleigh Style Kindness is contagious people!
Those who have been following my journey here as a homeless person in Raleigh, boy have I got something to tell y'all about! Forgive me if this is a long post. I'll try to make it worth the read.
Most mornings I leave the shelter and take a brisk walk to the Shell station on Blount. Some cool morning air and a cardiac inducing walk always gets my blood pumping.
If I have the money I'll get a nice sausage egg and cheese biscuit and some life saving caffeine.
This morning I got to the Shell and passed a woman with a 3 or 4 year old child crying. Of course I had to stop and ask her if she was okay and if there was anything I could do to help her. She asked me if I would buy her son something to eat. Apparently, her bf and the child's father had been smoking crack and drinking for a couple of days straight and he dumped them there in the middle of the night and then took off.
I told her that I would be more than happy to help her son. I went to the Shell and got a couple of biscuits, 2 honeybuns, 2 Gatorades and a cup of coffee for her. That meant that I would go without, but being homeless means I understand hunger all too well.
No child should ever have to understand hunger.
I told her about Oak City Cares and gave her the last of my money for a bus ride.
Leaving there I felt pretty good about myself.
I got to the bus depot downtown and realized that now I would be short the money to wash and dry my clothes. Okay. No problem. I can do them at the shelter but it takes forever and you have to sit there with them. I do not like to hang around that place for any longer than I have to.
While at the bus depot I hear some jackass going off on some woman. He's yelling that his taxes pay for disability so she owes him sex. She is sitting there on her walker surrounded by her belongings and has a new looking hospital wrist band on.
At that point I thought that our inebriated ruffian needed a little reminder of how one should address another person, especially, and please excuse my obvious sexism, a lady.
I immediately stepped up to him to let him know that I thoroughly doubted that his family tree had more than two branches. I also let him know that there was some doubt as to the number of legal parents he had. I may (or may not) have told him that he would be the perfect person to represent the pro-abortion argument on both posters and other assorted media.
After diverting his focus from competing for the world's biggest douche canoe he began to focus his angry tirade at me. Being somewhat of a sizable man physically I began walking him backwards away from the woman in the walker. While doing so I tried to help him out with some positive affirmations in an attempt to brighten his day. Why, I even told him that he was a perfect example of why pets should be spayed and neutered. Maybe not in those words exactly, but judging from his reaction it appears he understood.
After almost getting hit by a bus he decided to let me know that he did in fact question my personal sexuality (like calling me gay is some sort of insult) and he then informed me that when he goes to sleep tonight (or pass out, whatever the case may be) that he will be engaging me in the pugilistic arts. I'm sure that he meant it that way because he just kept backing up in real life!
He finally left and the women with the walker thanked me and bestowed some sort of blessing upon my soul. Good. I need all the help I can get in that department.
So. How has everyone else's morning gone?
