Homeless

This morning I was almost run off the road by a truck driver. After I got off of work, I stopped by the police station to file a complaint. I had never stepped foot in a police station before, but I felt fed up with the road of rage, star fighters, and this truck. So I went in. The police officer was really nice and was going to send a citation to the driver. I was able to capture the licence plate number with my trusty camera, always at my side.

While I was there I met Sunny, a 50 year old man with a very down and out story. He is homeless , but still manages to work part time at a local grocery store. He was waiting for a ride back to the store, since there was no where else for him to go. He had been renting a room in a house near his job, but when the people who rented the house were evicted, he was tossed out, too. He said he was caught out in the last snow storm and it was pretty hard getting by. Knowing that another storm is coming tonight and all day tomorrow, I really felt bad for him.

But I can't bring him home as if he was a stray cat. I promised to find him at the grocery store if I could think of any way to help him. As soon as I got home I called the local pastor of a nearby church, but there was nothing they could offer, except to caution me that he could have just been feeding me a line. I was told he needed a social worker and counseling as well as a bed in the shelter. I called two shelters who were not the most cordial over the phone. Both were full and couldn't take anyone. They offered no other alternative ideas.

He said he got into this predicament due to the economy. He had been working nine years full time with a furniture auctioneer. But then his boss died and the business folded and he couldn't find work, except part time at the grocery store. He says, at least he can eat, but it's the snowstorm that is really hard to manage.

I kept thinking that the United States is so wealthy and too many Americans have no idea just how good they have it. How would I walk in his shoes for one week, or even one day? Couldn't be more humbling an experience.

I have no idea how I can help this guy. I feel like I am letting him down.