I left that area and drove by Lincoln Park and then down North Main St. I found Glen on the sidewalk going through all of her "stuff" which was spread out all over the wide sidewalk. This encounter was a little more than I expected. I turned around and drove back to where she was and parked next to her on the sidewalk. I asked her if she needed some food. Her response was, "What do you have?" I should have known right-away this one was going to be different. She reminded me of Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy show) when she would dress up as a country bumpkin with some of her teeth blacked out. Except this woman did have missing teeth. I'm guessing her to be in her mid-fifties and she was a fairly large woman. When she saw what was in the bag of food she said, "OK, I'll try one." But what she really wanted was a ride to a McDonalds on Olympic. Well, I knew where there was a McDonalds on Olympic and Central that wasn't too far away so I said, "OK, I can give you a ride there." I was going in that direction anyway. Now I usually don't give these people rides. I think I've given three rides (and this was the third one) in all the time I've done these downtown trips, so this isn't a thing I normally do or am even comfortable doing. It took her about 7 or 8 minutes just to get all her stuff back in her bags and in my car. When we got to the McDonalds it wasn't the one she was looking for. She actually had an address and the McDonalds she was looking for was just near this address. The address was 4425 E. Olympic Blvd and the McDonalds at Olympic and Central was the 1300 block. I was somewhat relieved that it was 1300 East Olympic so I ended up driving her the 31 blocks to 4425 E. Olympic. When you're in the middle of a situation like this you never know how it's going to end or how long before it ends so I was fighting the urge to start showing impatience the whole time. I'm pretty sure I succeeded at showing calmness the whole time but it was a struggle. I kept thinking that it would be over soon and when it was over I would be disappointed at myself if I hadn't helped this woman as best I could. Well, we finally located the address she was looking for and the McDonalds that was across the street. The address was apparently a bus depot. Whether or not she was going to catch a bus on a Sunday or not I don't know (and I wasn't going to ask) but I dropped her off at the McDonalds and wished her well. She looked pretty country bumpkinish but spoke with a New England accent. It was a weird combo. I pray she finds where she was looking to go. It ended up only taking about thirty minutes or so. Why are we so impatient with people who need our help? Lord forgive me.
So now I really headed back to downtown (and in a hurry) to more familiar turf. I found Nick lying on the street at 18th and Los Angeles St. He quickly got up and came to the car when I asked him if he needed some food. No, he didn't ask what kind of food was in the bag! He was especially happy to get some water too. Remember it was still pretty hot. As I drove down Olive St and was waiting at a signal at 8th St. a homeless man with a shopping cart was standing right there on the corner waiting to cross the street. His name was Jessie. I didn't recognize him but he may have recognized me because after I gave him a bag of food he asked if I had water too. As I drove away he was starting to eat some of the food in the bag. Once again, what a privilege to help people in their time of need.
The last man I helped was Alan. I've helped Alan a few times before. He is one of the dirtiest of the homeless men I've helped and doesn't talk very much. He was sitting on the sidewalk around the corner from the recycler and the Jack in the Box at Alameda and 14th St. He has 3 shopping carts of stuff now that were lined up in the street while he sat under the shade of a tree on the sidewalk (see the pictures). I parked and walked over to him with a bag of food. "Hey, Alan can you use some food?" I asked. He nodded his head. "How about some water too?" Again, he nodded his head. That's about the only response you'll get from Alan. I went back to the car and got the last gallon of water I had and gave it to him and sat down on the sidewalk next to him. It was about 1:00 or 1:30 in the afternoon by now. I decided I would try and talk with Alan for a little while and see what happens. He had started to look through the bag of food and had pulled out the can of soup. I told him there was a plastic spoon in the bag which he quickly got out. I almost laughed out loud when he "wiped if off". He seemed to hesitate before eating the soup so I told him to go ahead and start eating. So while he was eating the soup I talked with him for a few minutes. I told him it was the last official day of spring and summer looked like it was really going to be a warm one. I was just trying to make some idle conversation hoping to get him to talk to me. I told him it was also Father's Day and asked if he had any kids. He shook his head no. He had told me before that he was from East Los Angeles so I asked if his Dad was still around or alive. Again he shook his head no. I then asked him what town in East Los Angeles he was from and he motioned towards the east and made kind of a looping motion like it was "just over the bridge". Since I was sitting so close to him on the sidewalk I noticed he had a large bible next to him. I picked it up and saw that it was a King James version from the Latter Day Saints. I commented, "So the Mormans have been by, huh?" He nodded his head again. I said, "Well good for them." I had given him a Gospel of John which was in the bag of food and he had pulled it out when he went through the bag. It is the NIV version and a lot easier for us to read in our day but I thought I'd let him discover that on his own. He had actually been reading a recycler newpaper when I walked up. While we were
sitting there under the shade of that big tree two small sparrows had landed on the street in front of us, not more that a few feet away. I commented that Jesus said a sparrow doesn't fall to earth but that the Father doesn't know about it and because of this Jesus said the Father knows all about us too. Well, I didn't stay too much longer with Alan. I wondered later if he was as impatient for me to leave him as I had been with that woman. I hope not. It's weird that I was willing to spend time with Alan because I knew I was in control of the situation and could leave at any time but was
uncomfortable and impatient with Glen because I wasn't as much in control of that situation. Lord teach me a lesson in patience in this and calm my spirit. It turned out to be a good Father's Day downtown. --Until next week. John
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