Honest and open conversations with the Homeless

Yesterday I jumped on the Light Rail headed south to the Inner Harbor to visit the Science Center for the day. What an amazing center! If anyone reading this comes to Baltimore with children it is definitely a must see. I was so happy that I went when school was starting in this area because the Science Center was nearly empty and I got to play with everything without being bowled over by small children.

While on the Light Rail I saw a very sad situation. Two gentleman got on and barely were able to walk to their seats 3 feet from where they boarded because they were so incredibly high on something. Then a lady with a baby in a stroller and a toddler followed them. Let me just preface this with, I was luckily very sheltered through high school and college when it came to drug exposure. I credit sports for that. The two gentleman were in different phases of their highs. One guy was in the animated let me tell you every story I know phase and the other was moving in slow motion like a turtle doing unknown tasks with items in his backpack; though he literally could not muster the strength to open his eyes to stay engaged in conversation. Unfortunately for the toddler, this gentleman was whom she called Dad. It made me very sad to see this; though I know this family is not isolated. I am just so thankful that was not my environment for my childhood.

Yesterday was a very enriching day for me. I had a great time at the Science Center and then had a day of great conversation. Immediately when I got off the rail, I was approached by a gentleman of course asking for money. I find it very interesting the amount of money that these guys ask for. It is always 12 cents, 26 cents, one penny, 16 cents. It is always such an odd amount. So this gentleman approaches me and immediately started with "Hello miss, please don't cuss me out or spit on me. I was wondering if you had some 16 cents to spare?" This took me back a bit. I responded with " Why would I cuss you out or spit on you? You haven't given me a reason to cuss you out yet. Why would I spit on you? You are a human being just as I am." I spoke with him for a couple of minutes and learned that he says that he sleeps on the sidewalks and streets and hasn't eaten in a couple of days. I then said "You haven't eaten in days yet you wreak of alcohol. Maybe we should discuss priorities." He then went on to speak about the process of alcohol withdrawal which he really didn't know how to label it. He said that he would rather starve than go through withdrawal. I also discussed with him that I have heard too many stories about how many of the people that approach me are probably panhandlers and not really homeless and make more money in a week than I. I asked his input on how to tell whom was legit. I did not give this gentleman any money because I know he was just going to buy alcohol, but I think just giving him the time of day to listen made his day.

In the evening as I was waiting for my friend Silvia to come down and let me into her apartment building I was approached by several more people asking for money. It's just a gift I have, I guess. One of the gentleman lives in Ocean City, MD, but was up here because his old lady had to have some major surgery and the laundry list of organs that he listed that were removed, had they been healthy organs, she would have been the most complete organ donor ever. So I am pretty sure there were a few details missing in his story. After I figured out that "old lady" meant his girlfriend or wife and not his mother, I was back on track with him. He was actually a funny guy. His story was that he was walking around clearing some space in his head. He was only asking for 12 cents. I told him I had no change on me. He then asked for a dollar. Haha. I replied with "all I have on me is plastic." He replied "can we walk across the street then and you can buy me a beer with your credit card?" I credited him with his boldness, but told him I rarely buy myself a beer, so I am not going to buy him a beer. He laughed and said "Never hurts to try." Indeed it doesn't.

I really enjoyed my time in nursing school working with the homeless. I do hope to someday work with them again. As I have said before, everyone has a story and everyone just wants to feel heard. Many of the homeless around here are drunks but they are pretty harmless otherwise. Welcome to the big city kid!