Thursday 17 December 2009

Urban Survival; Homeless Run Update


Tuesday saw another evening of dishing out some grub to the homeless guys, and, well, the not so homeless.
I had just been training before our duties were called (not recommended as I was knackered!) and due to my exhaustion, let alone dehydration (don't be clever and not drink water just because it's more convenient) my ego decided to rear it's ugly head.

The result? A conscious effort to try and hold my tongue when someone came along to get their food, that clearly wasn't homeless. However, I just told myself it wasn't my business, that I have a task to complete and maybe, if there's any left, I'll get a vanilla cup-cake too. Oh hypocrisy.

The night went well though. A massive queue for the yellow wagon, much larger than Friday's. But not as much bread this time.

One part of the night I do remember clearly is being taken by surprise at the sheer amount of characters you meet whilst doing these runs. I can't even begin to tell you the diversity of (what you might call) nutjobs that crop up when there's free grub on the table, homeless or not!
This isn't a slagging at them, quite the opposite in fact, as they all combined to somehow lift my mood and make my evening.

We had one guy chatting to Sunda-Thunda for a good 5 mins + without a pause, about mobile phone models, his current dilemma whether or not he should move to touch screen technology and then plans for his xmas; another guy wearing a poncho over his head and sunglasses (at night I might add) talking incoherently about his terminator movie theory (seemed like that's how he viewed life); a regular, who on Friday really, really, wanted his granary bread but this time was mesmerized by the cupcake and grape division and forgot all about his bread, and another regular who kept trying to put his bags in the van (bless him) saying that 'everyone else lets me' even after asking and being refused by, well, everyone.

A melting pot you might say. To the point where I actually began tripping out wondering if I was the one going nuts!
Still, frustration and hunger turned to smiles and laughter by the end of it, and all went according to plan. Back there on Friday,

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