A Good Rest
I sleep well, but the food from last night has me farting up a storm. The whole dorm room is filled with snoring, farting, and people talking. It reminds me of prison, which sadly feels like a home for me.
An Observation
I have began to notice that many homeless people have been homeless for years. Having the church meals is a huge resource, not just for the food but for the community. I like the meals at the church opposed to St Francis house or the Shelter, because it feels more like a community in the churches. St. Francis House and the shelter feel more like an institution. I think the element of community is a saving grace for a lot of people in the street. Whereas loneliness irrodes a person’s reason and resolve. I’ve heard it said that mental illness thrives in isolation. Many people have mentioned the broken continuum of care for the homeless. I can see with some of the people with mental illness, how isolation and lack of feedback from others, their mental illness becomes worse feeding off of self directed delusions.
Another thing I learned is that LA came out here and got stuck. He said you can’t hitchhike in Mass. LA just wants to head back West, he doesn’t want to be homeless in Mass. I thought to myself, that all people living in Massachusetts who don’t want to be here should have an option to get transportation to wherever they want to go.
4:00 a.m. I woke up. I slept about 10 hours. With all the sleeping outside and Freddies drunken ranting, I needed the rest. I pack my stuff and get ready to depart. One of the shelter workers gives me some advice, mostly jokingly, he is telling me to stay away from women like Melanie, his coworker, who’s sitting right there. It’s pretty funny. From there I head to the shelter exit. The South Hampton men’s shelter entrance is right in the middle of the impact zone, there’s still a lot of people awake, most likely on meth or other stimulants. There’s a man at the entrance of the shelter wearing a cartoon rocket man hat and holding a queen sized mattress on a shopping cart. I don’t take a picture, I kinda wish I did now.
4:30 a.m. I walked over to the Boston Medical University campus where I locked up my bike. Thankfully, it’s still there. There’s a guard on duty. I’m thinking I will continue to put my bike there when I’m in that area. From Boston Medical college I rode to North station to take a train to my mother’s house. I have to get my helmet and bike lock key I had forgotten in my truck over the weekend. Below 👇 the city, where my bike was, a leaking drain, a pigeon, and a hockey statue at Northstation.
6:30 a.m. I took the 5:37am train and I arrived at my mother’s at 6:30am. I take my truck to my friend’s house. I use the computer and work on the Identify website. I write the blog and go over the social media for the project. I take a shower, wash my clothes, and head back to my mother’s house.
10:00 a.m. I spent some time at my mother’s. I take Charlie for a couple walks. My bigger inflatable mattress arrived in the mail. I plan on using that for the bed of the truck for when it gets really cold out. I also get a new SIM card from one of my mobile phone providers. I have 2 phones for this project. I follow the instructions to activate the new SIM card and it keeps saying the phone is locked. This pisses me off. I call the cell provider and they tell me they stopped using T-Mobile towers and I might have to buy a new phone. This pisses me off even more.
12:45 p.m. I shelve the phone problem, and ride my bike to the train station to make the 1:11 train into Boston. I talked with a man at the train station. I give him my card and tell him about my project. The man tells me that he had a guy that worked for him, a real estate appraiser, who lived in his car, due to marital issues. I ask if alcohol was involved, he says he’s not sure.
1:25 p.m. The train is late. I continue to mess with my phone service on the train. There’s a girl on the bench next to me, I ask if she has a safety pin. She pulls out a small polished stone in the shape of a woman’s body, and says, “I have this.” I remember I had a sewing kit in my bag, and found a safety pin there for swapping out sim cards. As I swap out the sim cards I ask the girl if she likes documentaries. She says yeah, “sometimes I watch them.” I exclaimed, “I’m homeless.” She says, “I don’t have any money.” I’m interested in her response. I told her about my project and gave her a card.
2:15 p.m. I arrived at North Station. I head over to the Boston Central Library to hang out until dinner. I work on some media stuff, and I find out Aiden Kearney aka Turtle Boy has been arrested and charged with witness intimidation involving the Karen Read Case. I’ve been following this Case since Aiden first reported it. I encourage anyone else to learn about this case or reach out to me if you want more information. Below 👇 are pictures of the library.
5:30 p.m. I head over to Park St Place church for dinner. There’s a line outside the church. I park my bike down the street. LA is there with his bike waiting in line. People are talking and smoking cigarettes. Suddenly a man in cowboy get-up almost gets in a fight with another man outside the church. LA and I sit at the same table and have our dinner. We have chicken french fries and beans and some desserts. We both have seconds.
7:00 p.m. LA plans on sleeping at the church that drunken Freddy likes to frequent. I tell LA that I don’t want my sleep disturbed so I decide to go off on my own and find a place to sleep at the esplanade. While I’m riding my bike down the esplanade, a man leaning against the wall stops me and asks me if I could help him for a minute. He says fell off his skateboard and hurt his leg. I ask, are you trying to hustle me? He replies, no and he seems genuine. I tell the man that I’ll sit and talk with him and help him if I can. He says he doesn’t know if he should walk. I ask him how bad his leg is hurt. He pointed to his hamstring. I tell him he either pulled or overextended a muscle. I say, you should be fine to walk as long as the knee doesn’t hurt too bad. I agree to walk with him down the esplanade. He says he lives about 10 minutes away. As we walk he tells me his name is Yosh. He’s from Indiana. Josh tells me that he is a software engineer and works in Cambridge. I tell him about my project and give him my card. Yosh agrees to check it out. Josh and I part ways at a bike path that goes over the highway.
7:50 p.m. I spent the rest of the night trying to find a place to sleep. First I pick a bridge with a stone outcropping. I stay there and watch Turtle Boy in court by the river. There’s a man on a bench near me, I think he’s homeless and he’s smoking crack. I don’t trust this man near me, so I find another spot to sleep.
9:30 p.m. I find a stone benched area that’s pretty concealed. I chain my bike up to a nearby fence, put down my pack and get my sleeping gear out. I go to bed for the night.
