I woke up at 6:30 am and I fixed the tire on my bike. To do that, I pulled the tube off the tire, and put the tube in the bathroom sink with some air in it, and pulled the tube through the water until I saw bubbles. The air leak was right at the valve stem, so I dried the tire, cleaned the area with sand paper, and applied a patch from my bike tool kit. The patch held strong. I was good to travel. I spent the next few hours hanging out with my girlfriend
I went to the Lowell train station at 10am to take the 10:22 to north station. When I arrived in Boston I rode my bike to South station to take the 11:15 train to Brockton. I was hungry so I bought some Chinese food.
When the train arrived in Brockton around noon I began riding my bike to the location I picked for my camp site on maps. It is a forested area called the DW Parkway. One thing I notice right away about Brockton is it has a large African American population.
It took me about 15 minutes to ride my bike to the DW Parkway entrance from the Brockton Train station. It was everything I had hoped for. A long winding road through a nature preserve. A great place to camp and hide, yet close enough to resources that I can ride my bike. I began scouting for a place to set up camp.
Once I set up my campsite I got my small backpack and I rode my bike to the library which was about a 13 minute ride. I liked Brockton already, as far as living homeless goes, the resources and a place to camp are close, and there aren’t too many hills. I arrived at the Library around 2:00 p.m.
I left the library around 4 p.m. and took a bike ride over to Father Bill’s Shelter and meal provider. I hadn’t seen a lot of homeless people yet, so I was wondering if this city might not have a large population of homeless people. This perception changed as I got closer to Father Bill’s. Right before the shelter I passed a church that was all chained up, with about 20 homeless people sitting out front. Next to this church was a small park with another 15 or so homeless people hanging around. Next to the park was Father Bill’s with close to 100 homeless people lined up and sitting around waiting for dinner. It was about 4:30 p.m. at this time.
I locked up my bike along the wheelchair ramp and waited for my meal at the back of the line. There were a lot of Haitian people sitting outside and in the line. The most Haitian people I’ve seen since I was at the Woods Mullen shelter in Boston. I knew they were Haitian, because they were speaking Creole. I’ve had a few Haitian friends and I’m familiar with the language.
When I entered Father Bill’s I was searched and wanded with a metal detector. I was asked to put all my weapons in a tray that would be held behind the desk. I put my swiss army knife on my keychain, folding knife, pepper spray, and a pair of survival pliers/hammer in the tray and went to eat.
I went through the serving line and got my food. There was a seat open at one of the Haitian tables, I asked if I could sit, and was given the ok. There were 5 Haitian people sitting at the table, 2 women and 3 guys. They were speaking amongst themselves. While I was eating another Haitian man approached with food and stood next to me, obviously waiting for me to finish eating. I could tell he was annoyed that I was sitting there. I ate quicker and gave the man the seat. No thank you or acknowledgement, he just angrily sat down. I was annoyed at his bad attitude.
I understand it is difficult adjusting to a new society, but those who are born here, speak the language, and know the landscape can help foreigners learn, adapt, and adjust. A Pakistani friend of mine told me when he moved to America, he would sit with old people in the park and drum up conversation with them to learn English. You can join clubs, play sports, watch sports, seek education, work, talk to people, or get involved in politics to adapt to a new society. People who come to this country, who do none of the things are parasites in my mind. If they refuse to acquaint themselves with our society, language, and culture we will have to wait until their children, who will be educated in American schools, to become participants of American society.
You might not agree with my assessment, but let me remind you that I just came from working in Lawrence Massachusetts, where Dominican immigrants go to peddle deadly drugs, and send the bulk of these illegal funds back to their country where they will retire. All our systems are spiraling towards low levels of social and economic accountability.
At around 5:30 p.m. I took a ride to Walgreens to get some Caffeine pills, which helps me regulate my ADHD. I had left my bottle of caffeine pills on my girlfriend’s kitchen counter. I have avoided taking amphetamine drugs like Adderall or Vyvanse. My ADHD has gotten easier to regulate as I’ve gotten older, but a 200 mg caffeine pill in the morning and occasionally in the afternoon helps me a lot.
When I came out of Walgreens there was an African American man with SORRY tattooed on his neck standing near my bike. He was holding a Natural Ice 24 oz can in a paper bag. He said to me, “Do you mind if I drink in front of you?” I said, “Do whatever you want.” I asked him if he was homeless. He told me that he was for a couple months, but now pays a friend $300 to stay at his place. I asked him about the SORRY tattoo. He said there was a story behind it, but I didn’t stick around to find out. I’m writing this later and I regret not getting that story on film.
It was about 6:30 p.m. and I decided to check out another potential camping spot on my way back to my camp. The spot I looked at, that I saw on Google maps, was behind a small park. There was a little path leading into a wooded area, but it was too overgrown with lots of prickers. I just rode on to my camp.
When I got back to my campsite, I spent some time trying to fix the inner tube on the back tire. Since I patched it, it seems to have gotten too big for the rim. Now a bunched up spot causes the tire to bump along as I’m riding. I couldn’t get the tire back to normal for a smooth ride. But it would have to do.
After messing with my tire it was nearly 8 p.m. so I settled into my hidden tent and got some writing done before I went to bed.