Lunch Break

[billroper]

So I went down to Hot Dog Island to grab some lunch. As I was waiting in line, a homeless woman came in the door and asked if she could use the restroom. Alyse, the owner's daughter, told her to go ahead. I would normally sit facing away from the restroom, but this would have meant that I wouldn't be able to see where the homeless woman was, so I decided to face toward the restroom instead. I admit that this was mostly prompted by the fact that she smelled really bad and I was afraid that some of whatever substance was producing the smell might end up on me if she brushed against me on the way out, since I would have been sitting near the door.

The homeless woman spent a very long time in the restroom. When she came out, she stopped in the hallway and spent some substantial time picking at something on her face or in her hair that she saw reflected in the glass of a framed picture. Then she asked for a cup of water, which they gave her. She asked if she could put sugar in the water, which they told her she could. And about a minute later, she left.

She was very sad looking and didn't seem very well at all. She had a CTA transfer clutched in her hand that I suspect she had picked up from where a rider had discarded it. The sweat pants that she wore were ragged at the bottom and made it impossible to tell whether she was wearing shoes, or perhaps socks, as they brushed against the floor. I felt a bit guilty reading my paper and continuing to eat my lunch as she left. God knows that I can spare a meal.

A few minutes after the homeless woman left, Alyse looked in the restroom. Not only had it been left a mess, but all of the toilet paper -- the available roll and what had been in the cabinet -- were gone. Alyse went to look for the homeless woman, but she was long out of sight.

Alyse spent about fifteen minutes cleaning up the restroom.

And it will probably be a very long time before a homeless person uses that restroom again.

Comments

[braider.livejournal.com]

What was she using the toilet paper for - insulation?

[poltr1]

There but for the grace of God go I.

Many homeless people are mentally ill, with illnesses ranging from depression to schizophrenia. They don't take their meds, or they were never prescribed any. I wish I can recall the stats and specifics, but it was during the Reagan years that some standard changed, and a lot of mentally ill people who used to live in institutions were released. Some went to live with their families, many of whom were not prepared to handle them and their illness(es).

I'm expecting Alyse to hang a sign "Restrooms for customer use only" Real Soon Now. It's a shame that one person has to ruin it for everyone.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I wish there was more of a social current that some people need more support from society than others and that we as a society freely offered that help. Instead, it's pretty much all about me-and-mine.

It's not easy to know where and how to help, but so much needs to be done and so many people do nothing at all to improve society, never offering either time or money to those less fortunate than themselves. I wish we all felt that giving was not optional. A generous world is a better world, and generosity is perhaps the defining quality of Americans. That this seems to be extincting itself in the current infatuation with conservativism makes me confused and sad.

K.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this for a few days, and need to add that I wouldn't have done anything different than you in this situation, Bill, and wasn't trying to suggest that I would have, or that you should have done something else.

Just sayin'.

K.

[billroper]

I appreciate it. I hadn't really thought that was what you were saying, but thanks for the clarification.

[madfilkentist]

In Harvard Square, we have the professional homeless. There are several people, clearly not starving, who beg with sales skills that would impress any used car salesman.

The best way to help the homeless is to support a charitable organization that has the savvy to tell the genuinely needy from the professional moochers, rather than to give money to the ones who are always on the streets.