Downtown 12/18/2011

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." --A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

The quote above came to mind when I thought back about yesterday's trip. It had a couple of very difficult moments and then some moments when I was glad to have persevered. I arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon with only a half dozen cans of food and an ice chest of bottled water. I didn't have a lot of funds available (after all it is Christmas time) and I was basically out of socks. At one point I drove over to the stores where I buy the socks at discounted prices hoping they would be open the Sunday before Christmas, but they weren't. However, I knew whatever I brought, the Lord would help me to find people in need who could use it. I started the trip by prayer-walking on skid row and on Cloud Nine Alley. Nothing special happened at either place, but while I was walking Cloud Nine Alley I was reminded of the relationships I have with Gary and Ray (two men who have lived there) in the past year and the special relationship with Pastor Rodriguez' church. I took some pictures (nothing I haven't posted before) of the alley. One of the pictures was opposite from where Ray lived. It is simply a picture of two roll-up metal doors that are heavily spray painted. It's what Ray woke up to every morning when he lived there.

I had been driving around quite a bit and saw a man named Richard on the corner of Hill and 16th looking for food in a trash can. I've seen Richard many times and have offered to help him at least three or four times in the past, but each time he refused to accept help. One time I left a bag of food next to him (he was seated on the sidewalk) and he got up and walked away leaving it there. I've come to the conclusion that perhaps the only way to get him to take the food is to throw it in the trash can. Yesterday, I drove around the block to get back to him and offered to give him some food again (which he declined) and the person in the car behind me started honking their horn! They must have been delayed all of 4 or 5 seconds. The problem when this happens is you can get pretty indignant and then your whole attitude changes to one of anger. Anger that someone couldn't wait the few seconds while you try and help someone and then the retribution that starts forming in your mind about what you would like to do to that person. In a very short time the idea of being a vessel of God's love to the homeless is all gone and your just filled with anger. Shortly after this, I was driving off Washington Blvd and down a small street called McCreary. I noticed a man laying on the sidewalk and thought it might be a friend of mine I haven't seen in awhile named Doug. As I pulled around the corner and was able to look right at him I realized it wasn't Doug and was someone I didn't know. Well this guy basically told me to move on, except he didn't say it civilly. After a couple of attempts on my part to talk courteously I gave up and drove on. I realized the more I tried to talk to this guy the worse it would get. Even if I got him to understand that I was there to help him, he wasn't going to be able to 'save face' and change his attitude, so I just went on. Both of these instances happened within about 10 or 15 minutes of each other. I've been rejected before, but never as vile as this guy was. I guess after two and a half years of doing this, that's a pretty good track record. I always have to remember to not take the rejections personally. These folks have all been treated harshly by society and they can get into a self-protection mode towards anyone they don't know.

Well, shortly after that things turned around somewhat dramatically. It was probably about 3:45 by now and I was in the area of the Jack in the Box. I turned up from a street off Olympic Blvd to 14th and saw a man who looked familiar. It turned out to be Solo. He was one of the men at the barbecue back in October. In fact, I had seen him last week a couple of streets from there where Richard Brown and his friends were. Solo told me that OG had died. OG was what the other homeless people called her. She had always referred to herself as Faulstine to me. She died on the sidewalk during the night Saturday. I noticed Solo didn't have much stuff in his shopping cart and I asked him if he wanted to look in the trunk for anything he could use. As it turned out, I had put a huge comforter in the trunk just before going downtown. It turned out to be just the thing he could use! It was not only warm, but because of it's size it would also serve as some padding for sleeping on the sidewalk too. One of the things about this encounter that made it special, was that Solo was "very happy" to see me. After the prior two encounters I needed that kind of welcome. When I gave him the two cans of food he told me, "I'm gonna eat this right now!" I saw that he had a bag from McDonalds. He told me someone gave him some fries. No hamberger, just fries, so the cans of beef ravioli were just in time.

Last week I met a new friend named Mark under the freeway at San Pedro. I drove back there and found him again yesterday. He didn't recognize me until I got out of the car and then he just erupted in joy! "Man, I am so glad to see you! I told everyone about you!" I had asked him last week where he had been staying and he told me a couple of the streets where he had stayed. I had driven over there and saw a tent but no one was in it. Anyway, Mark told me a little more about himself and his situation. Due to alcohol abuse he had lost everything including his family. I'm guessing Mark to be about forty years old. He was thankful for any help I could give him. I was sorry I only had the two cans of food. I gave him a blanket and prayed with him. I also had an opportunity to tell him about something I heard in church that morning that I felt he needed to hear. The message was on the birth of John the Baptist and how John's father (a priest) filled with the Holy Spirit talked about John being the forerunner for the redemption of Israel. The pastor had pointed out that this 'redemption' was a full pardon and not just the holding back of the consequences of sin. I told Mark that this applied to him too. I kept it brief and the prayer brief, because I don't know about Mark's spiritual background and by keeping things brief now could open the door for more meaningful conversation later. I told Mark I planned on being down there next Sunday (Christmas Day). He asked me where I wanted him to be! I told him anywhere around there was fine and to look for my car. I'll find him. As I drove away he called out, "Thank you John."

OK, the last encounter was down off Central Ave. I saw a young man sitting on a loading dock. His name turned out to be Melvin and he was probably about twenty years old. He told me he was on probation until March and had no place to go so he had been staying there. He said it was too dangerous any closer to downtown and he was afraid of getting beaten up. I told him I'd look for him next week too. I gave him the last two cans of food, water and a couple of packs of cookies that I had. He asked if I had any socks. I was able to find a pair of regular socks and a pair of new ankle socks. Ankle socks are OK during the summer months, but during the cold air of this time of year the longer ones are much better. Anyway, Melvin was a lot happier after I left, in fact, I gave him some 'reading material', a New Testament. Perhaps we'll have more to talk about next week, Christmas Day. Until then, John