When they're not beautifying landscapes, they spend afternoons doing volunteer work at a summer program for special needs kids. That's where they'd been today when a surprise thunderstorm sent them seeking shelter under the Rockrimmon blvd. bridge as they rode their bicycles home.
As they pulled their bikes over to the sheltered portion of the path, they noticed a homeless woman living under the bridge.
Her possessions were sparse. Just a small bag holding, probably, all her wordly possessions. She did have a bicycle for transportation. It was covered in splashes of mud and likely in need of a complete overhaul.
How long had she been there? they wondered. She looked dirty, her hair all disheveled. When was her last bath? Was she mentally stable? Could she even read or understand basic computations? What kind of future was there for such a person?
Even though they'd both completed their Eagle Scout projects, they began to ponder the woman's plight and what they could do to help.
The noise of the storm slowly began to dissipate as they pulled out each other's rain jackets, ever prepared. Soon, the storm would be fully passed, but they wanted to get home to the suburbs to get started on their baked goods for the church fundraiser.
They put on their jackets, and headed north out from under the bridge and into the last drippings of the storm. As they did so, they went by the homeless woman, sitting there with nothing better to do.
They nodded their heads and smiled as they passed her. She smiled back. She even spoke.
"Hi. Be careful.", with surprising clarity. Just a brief moment of lucidness, perhaps.
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Yeah, I was out
These two teen boys arrived, and looked to be nice kids, though we didn't really talk. They left shortly before I did.
Probably to go home to smoke pot and play Grand Theft Auto...
6 comments:
Hmm... you're photographed by a man under a bridge, and now you're caught drying out under a bridge... Yep. I think YOU'RE the hobo.
A highly intelligent, tattooed, ex-extreme-crossing-guard, hobo. Aren't they all?
Okay, you've revealed it! Well, I was getting tired of the suburbs, and Magnum and I were thinking of downsizing...
And I like to do that too. Make up stories about others, I mean. Not hide out under a bridge. Although sometimes it's tempting...
Geez! I like the first version better.
Well... they COULD be college-bound Eagle Scouts with a good-samaritan streak to their personalities who just happen to smoke pot and play Grand Theft Auto in their spare time.
Pretty funny/interesting to read that story from both sides. Sometimes you have to ponder about that person you encounter on the trail (crazy or not?).
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