 |
|
|
UER Store
|
|
sweet UER decals:
|
|
|
|
Activity
|
|
498 online
Server Time:
2024-04-24 06:33:27
|
|
|
 | A Weekend Of No Home Pt 2
entry by ChaseofSpades
7/27/2008 10:49 AM
| So I ended up living the whole lifestyle that night. When I had to piss, I did it behind a dumpster. When I wanted a drink, we begged for beer. And when I wanted to sleep...well we went to the bus stop and had a nice little nap before the sun came up.
I woke up with a horrible hang over from the booze we'd drank the night before (we'd bought a little plastic bottle of Jim Bean from a guy for 5 dollars, which was our panhandle money combined.)
Me and Nicholas hung out the entire day and talked about everything. From good books to quantum physics.
Then I asked him about his life style and how he ended up this way. Hands down, the guy was smarter than me in every sense of the word. He schooled me on literature, his common sense was what had kept him alive on the streets, so how does a smart young guy end up out at a bus stop in Austin.
"I choose it. I like it out here."
He told me that people would be pissed if they knew how many of the panhandlers were out there because they don't like authority. They don't like getting up early for a job they hate. They don't like going home to a life they don't enjoy, so they simplify everything and live just fine. He told me that there are days the he lives better than I do. He will stay in a nice pent house with a nice car (on the days he meets a generous philanthropist) and there are days that are so hard he doesn't know how he pushes on.
Something else I learned from him is that there are different classes of homeless.
There are the bums/druggies. These are the guys that spent their children's college fund to support their heroin addiction. They are always fried out and have no idea what's going on.
There are the punks. These are kids that are right out of college, or about to go in and they get a sudden disliking of society. They are rightfully called punks because they are unruly, and unlike the other homeless, they will fight a pedestrian for the hell of it. They don't care about anybody.
There are the loonies. The people that society has turned their backs on. The dust under the rug, so to speak. The mentally handicapped that should be seeking treatment, but instead the push around a cart of useless junk that they call home.
And then there are the kids. Nicholas was a kid. Kids are modern day nomads. They hop trains, hitchhike, walk, and run from city to city. apparently, they live in a sort of "word of mouth community" that is always in touch without the use of phones.
Nicholas' path was from Austin, to Arizona, to Northern California, to Washington state, back over to the center of the country, and then back down to Texas. He does this about once year, as does all of his "clique" of kids. They all know each other and keep in touch by talking to one another.
While I was with Nicholas, and guy stepped off a bus named "Red". Nick walked over to him, shook his hand and gave him a hug. "Where's Sarah", he said.
"Up in Nor-Cal", Responded Red.
This is how they keep in touch.
Nick told me that if I ever grew the balls, I should pack up and quit my job. I should hit the road for two or three months and see the sites with him. He promised an adventure that I'd never forget, and I believe him. He told me that I'd see things that would give me nightmares for the rest of my life. People giving their lives up for drugs, and sex. He said it's so hard at times that a lesser man would crack and become one of the loonies. But then he said that there are times that you will fully understand why we were put on this earth. He said that I'd come around a turn in Northern California, in the hill country, and I'd see the sun setting just above a running stream. The light alone would bring a tear to my eye. In that moment, he says, I would forget about every bad thing that's every happened to anyone, and I'd have something worth writing about. He said that we'd get to the "kid camp" and join the other nomads in a party that would last for days, up in the hills where the land in the land and it is "owned" by no one.
Seems great, right?
Later that night, after all the great stories about kids and adventure, I found out what he meant about the darker side of things. About the things that stick to your mind, and will never come off...
[last edit 7/27/2008 10:53 AM by ChaseofSpades - edited 1 times]
Modify Entry |
|
Comments: (use Reply to add a comment)
| This thread is in a public category, and can't be made private. |
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 125 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 738876858 pages have been generated.
|
|
