Part II Plight of the Homeless I

Well, it is the 3rd of September, 2008 and my social security disability funds have been transferred into my bank account. At this point in time, I am completely delusional and believe that I am having to leave Florida because I have an interview in San Antonio, Texas with the University of Texas personnel. Why Texas, I will never know but the only potential reason that I can come up with is that my x-inlaws lived in McKinney, Texas and I was attracted to that site. In the previous Forrest Gump I, I was attracted to the ocean. If there is a message here it is that when, God forbidden, your loved ones start a walk it is to look at what they are attracted to and search for them there.

Let us focus now to the Forrest Gump II. I walked to the nearest motel with my briefcase carrying all that I would need for an interview plus important documents and a small carry on suitcase with some clothes. I then went to Tampa International Airport and purchased a one-way ticket to San Antonio. On the flight to San Antonio, I would re-examine my documents because I was positive that I would be able to procure a position with the University. If I had stopped and thought about it in a sane fashion I would realize that with a Master's degree I would have had a hard time procuring a professorship at U of T. In any event, I landed in San Antonio and proceeded to rent a car. I couldn't because I had a one-way ticket and ended up taking a taxi to the southside of San Antonio. There I found out that U of T was on the northside so I took another taxi to a hotel closer to U of T.

I had brought some pills but not all of them. I swore to myself that I didn't need them and that this was only an emergency situation. Because you see, in my delusional state, I was convinced that I needed to go to George Washington University Hospital and debate their assessment of my mental condition. Instead the walking started again. Not knowing the city at all, I started walking on the northside of San Antonio and spent a week trying to get back to the hotel. Luckily, I had left my checkbook and important documents with the concierge of the hotel or I would have lost them there is San Antonio. This walk without food or water proceeded until I returned to the hotel, changed clothes and managed to get to the airport one more time bound for DC. My mood was one of agitated and yet it was functional. You see I had worked on years of having a facade of a totally sane person. My intellect was working and it was only that my conclusions were off. Another point to be brought out is that when someone is delusional it is not like they are totally space cadets, they can and most likely are stating facts it is just that the conclusions are off base.

I headed to DC with limited funds and this time without the medication. When I landed in DC I was bound and determined to find George Washington University Hospital. So, though I had my faculties I started my journey. I kept my bag of important documents in hand and sought out the hospital. This lead to walking DC day and night. I started to look more and more like a homeless person. So, how does a homeless person really look. The answer is a little ragged on the edges. In DC, I kept my distance from the police and just kept walking. I was starting to loose weight but didn't look too bad. I visited soup kitchens and stayed at shelters. I was a survivor and was bound and determined to find this hospital. I did find the hospital eventually, and was seen several times with headaches which is the side-effect of lack of my medication. However, they, health care personnel, couldn't find anything wrong and would feed me a sandwich. So I would start my walk again in the cold and wet DC.

At one point, I was looking more tattered and had no money left. I was walking to George Washington University Hospital, when a homeless person was stationed with his belongings near the hospital. He begged for money, I had three cents left. I offered him a penny. His response was condemnation and that he would give me a dollar to get away from him. I thought to myself I am giving something I barely have and he is so ungrateful. I know that this is the perception given to those who are unfortunate to be homeless but look deep into their hearts and examine what their condition is or is not.

It was getting colder in DC and it was closer to October when I became more concerned with getting to Texas. Instinctly, I knew that I would have to escape the cold and move south. One evening when I was walking the streets of DC it became so cold that I hid myself behind a waste basket at the entrance of the Metro. I thought that I would die right there because all I had was a pair of shorts, a shirt and sandals. I am a survivor and I picked myself up and decided that this was not going to be the place that I die cold and hungry. I started walking to the police station that was near there and met another homeless person who gave me a sandwich to eat. He directed me to Grand Central Station. This was the middle of October and my social security disability funds had come in again. However, I didn't know how much or little there was in my funds. I boarded a train with what I had left in funds I thought I had and headed to Dallas, Texas.

**A note to take is if the family is able to track their loved one on a walkabout try to trace their expenditures to find out what they are doing. The thought does come to mind that you can stop the funds from being spent, however, the dilemma is that they will be left penniless and out on the streets. Maybe another way would be to limit their funds instead of giving them free access.

You can only imagine the looks and stares that people had as I boarded the train. This was the first train ride that I had and I was making all sorts of friends on the train, I thought. I was in a talkative mood by then and just about talked to every tom, dick or harry. At one point, the person sitting next to me gave me a bar of soap and told me to go into the bathroom to clean up a bit. I did and that seemed to elevate the problem a bit. So I was on my way to Dallas. The train went from DC to Chicago and I was getting worse by the second.

When I boarded the connecting train from Chicago to Dallas, Texas Eagle, I was in bad shape. I was in very bad shape. I started walking up and down the train and greeting everyone there. I called myself the train's greeter and made sure that everyone knew about the train's destination and mode of getting there. At St. Louis, the train stopped and had a problem. We were asked to disembark and I never returned to the train. Again, I started my walking with briefcase in tow. I walked all over St. Louis for a week. This time the delusional portion had given way to me talking to myself. So the next time that you see someone talking to themselves DO not think they are crazy, they may be just out of meds!!!

I will stop here because it is a good place for discussion of the homeless. When we see the homeless we think of them of being worthless people not even worth the ground that they are walking upon. However, do we really know the walk that they are taking? Do we know the situation that has brought them to this point? Do we know if it is a medical condition that has brought them to this condition? I ask you next time that you see a homeless person, don't run, just ask yourself what if I was in that condition, what would I want a passerby to say to me. Now, I am not talking about the homeless who are begging for money, I am speaking to the ones that are on the park bench without the bottle in the wrapper. The ones that are talking to themselves without anyone there. These people need help and we can and should help them. Even if it means that we just sit down and get to know there problems. You may be surprised to find out all about them and yourself.

Thank you for reading and I hope that I have given you food for thought. Plight of the Homeless II will be posted next on the Fort Worth/Dallas episode.