I see him around often. Shuffling down the sidewalk; looks like it has been a while since he had a hot meal or hot shower. He has conversations with people who aren’t there. He stops to examine and pick up some trivial object – a stone, a piece of trash, some random object. He carries it for a few steps then sets it down on the street and moves on.
I saw him once sitting in Starbucks; they chased him off. He seems to be harmless but I guess people don’t like to be confronted with the ugly truth that he represents.
On this day it was 100 degrees outside with a heat advisory. He was wearing a heavy blue coat and long pants. I saw him earlier in the day when I was getting my coffee. Then I went downtown to write for six hours and saw him again when I was coming home, maybe a block from where I saw him earlier. He was just ambling around the neighborhood all day, day in and day out; how does the mind bear this lack of purpose or place.
Usually I don’t carry cash but on this day I had some. I pulled up beside him on Shelbyville Road near the old Dutch’s Tavern space. I got out and approached him. He looked up and smiled. Just to be acknowledged as a human being was probably a gift.
How you doing buddy, I asked him. He replied, you going to get a coca cola?
Yeah it sure is hot, I said. Do you need something to eat?
Yeah I do, he said.
Do you need money?
Yes.
Well here’s ten bucks. Go down to Jimmy Johns and get you a sandwich.
He lit up like a Christmas tree and with a big smile he said thank you, thank you, and shook my hand heartily.
Then he said, here I want you to have this, and he handed me a sticker that said “you are loved.”
This was one of those random objects that he had picked up off the street. But it was in his inventory, and it had some meaning for him, so he wanted to give it to me in exchange for the kindness I showed him.
Why would a cheap little sticker have any meaning for this man, I thought. Why would he bother to pick it up and keep it. Because something told him he was loved, even if it was just a cheap little sticker.
Polyphonic 