City sidewalks, busy sidewalks….[i]
“Can you get out of my way?”
Josh moves at a slower pace because his calorie intake today isn’t sufficient to support his walking at a brisk shopper’s pace the Wednesday before Christmas. He’s not staggering right now. He’s just not moving fast enough for the downtown sidewalk traffic. The sub-freezing air is being driven by a constant breeze. Not much to that wind, but it still reduces the temperature’s impact by another seven degrees into single digits.
Dressed in holiday style…
“Mom, he stinks!”
This is Josh’s first Christmas as a homeless person. He was kicked out of his home, probably rightly so, when he lost control of his temper and took his first swing ever at his mother. (Good thing he was so drunk that he missed.)
Josh is still learning the ropes. He needs to find someplace that will maybe give him a change of clothes and the stuff he needs for a sponge bath. He needs a warmer coat. He also needs to eat, soon.
In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas…
Josh stops for a moment to survey the setting around him. He sees a guy he might be able to talk to, who is manning a Salvation Army bucket. Josh walks over, letting shoppers pass by him, trying to stay downwind of as many people as possible. Josh doesn’t even open his mouth and the guy looks at his watch, looks at Josh, and speaks.
“Dude, you can still make it to the Mission for dinner. Straight down Tejon, right at Las Vegas Street. Twenty-minute walk, and you’ve still got half an hour to be there.”
Josh makes it a few minutes ahead of time. Samaritan’s Kitchen is warm, and they let people in before the meal starts. He finds an empty chair between two guys who sort of look like he does. The food is hot and seems to warm up the conversation around the table. Josh discovers that there are options for homeless people in Colorado Springs. Most of the recovery programs sound way too restrictive for him, at least as he hears about them from those around the table.
Josh also knows he can’t stay homeless forever. At least he hopes he won’t. His mom asked him to come home for the family Christmas meal, but also made it clear he wasn’t welcome to stay. He’s learned from his new friends that the Mission has a community meal two days before Christmas. Maybe if he plays it right, he can eat well for a few days running.
But then, he’ll have some hard decisions to make before the really cold weather hits. Detox? A recovery program? Ride out the winter and hope for an early spring? Sober up and beg to come home until a job comes along?
Soon it will be Christmas Day…
Josh stabs at his dessert and shakes his head. How did Christmas end up like this, anyway?
He’s too much of a rookie to know it, but almost everyone else in the room is sharing the same thought.
[i] Excerpts from Silver Bells, italicized in this article, are property of their authors, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (© 1950, 1977), and used here for educational purposes. Work originally published by Paramount Music Corp.
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