I Am Hungry...

I work in downtown Detroit. I see a lot of things. Some make me angry, some make me sad, and some just amaze me.

Yesterday morning, someone in a car jumped a curb and pinned a man between a building and their car. I am pretty sure he died. I heard quite a few people say, "Oh, he was only a homeless person..." or "Oh, he was just a homeless person." This bothered me greatly. Everyone is a human being regardless of their situation. It really made me sad. (I have since found out that the man didn't die -- I also found out that the person in the car was a police officer on his way to work.... his license plate read "furious" -- nice, real nice.)

Then, at the end of the work day when I was walking to the garage where I park my car I could see that the crossing light was going to change so I slowed my pace. There is no point in trying to step up the pace when I know that I don't walk quickly enough to make it across the street before the light changes and people zoom passed in their vehicles lost in their own world with their booming music and their cell phones.

As I was waiting for the light to change in my favor a gentleman came up to me and said hello and that his mother had just died last week. Before you go, "Oh, I know what his game is," hear me out. This man was grown, probably in his late 40s or so.... and had the mental capacity of about a 12 or 14 year old. There are a lot of people like that downtown. They live in squalid apartments because that is all they can afford, and if they are mentally challenged and living with an aging parent, suddenly they are left alone to cope in a very cold world. He said he was hungry and hadn't eaten in two days. He also said he wasn't asking for money, just for someone to buy him something to eat. He was clean, and so were his clothes, so I knew he had been taken care of by someone. I felt so bad because I had to tell him I didn't have any money. Instantly he went from nice to calling me a b*tch among other things and said he was so hungry and walked away. I continued to wait for the light and I watched him walk up to several people who either walked a wide berth around him or just shook their head before he could say anything. He didn't keep walking, he stood in front of the gas station that is on the corner. They have pop and chips and sandwiches, milk, eggs, bottled water, and lots of things one could eat.

The light changed and I started across the street. I kept looking back and kept seeing people just ignore him or shake their head. I was almost to my car when I couldn't go any further. I turned around and with tears streaming down my face I went up to him. One could instantly see the shame on his face because he knew he had made me cry. He said, I'm sorry many times to me. I told him that if the gas station would take a credit card, I would buy him something to eat. He kept thanking me profusely. Instead of heading for junk, he picked out a carton of eggs, a pound of butter, bread, crackers, two sandwiches and then asked me if he could have toilet paper because he didn't have any. As he was putting his things on the counter, the line behind us grew. No one became angry, no one said hurry up, they were trying to figure out why I was crying. Then he asked me if he could have a cookie. Dear God in Heaven, something so simple as a cookie. Of course, I said yes. His purchases added up to quite a bit, but I didn't care. As I paid for them, he couldn't thank me enough. He just kept saying it over and over again.

You see, there was a time when my father had no income, no place to live and nothing to eat.... nothing to eat for days. I also remember quite vividly when I was little being without food, heat, lights. People think I make it up that I used to do my homework by a kerosene lamp. It's not a lie. We couldn't afford to pay an electric bill, so we had no lights. We couldn't afford to pay for the gas to be turned on so that Mom could cook on the small stove. There was no money to pay for a delivery of coal, so there was no heat. I've been there. I cannot ever say no to someone (or an animal) that is hungry.

I cried all the way home. I am still crying. The words "I'm hungry" are still ringing in my ears.