I'm sure you know him. His name is Jay. You can catch him walking downtown everyday, wearing a maroon jacket, asking for money. He has been doing this for longer than I've been here which accounts for about four years now. I just saw him and was inclined to write this.
This man. I've know him pretty well since about my sophomore year. I lived in the blue house across from Saga. He had talked to my friend, Suzy, who also lived with me there. She told me that he had moved to Milledgeville with the love of his life but that all fell apart for him and she no longer loved him. So he lost everything from depression and gave up on everything. I can't tell you for sure if this is a real story or if it's made up. One of the unfortunate things about talking to homeless people is not being able to believing what they say. But even if the story is true, it happened many years ago.
I also learned that although he roams the streets day and night, he lives with his mother in a home in Milledgeville. So technically he isn't homeless, he's just poor. The reason I write this though is because it saddens me to watch him collect money everyday from people when he has been given millions of opportunities to get a job or get out of poverty/homelessness. I've heard of people who are on the streets who get to the point where they would rather be homeless than actually have a home, job and money. Maybe that's how he feels, maybe not.
As you all know, I am at Blackbird everyday. So I take note to who he asks money from, how many times he walks by, etc. I've actually gotten to the point where I understand some of his tactics for collecting money. So, we all know who the locals are. Me for instance. He still asks me for money but he pretty much knows I won't give him any. For the non-locals, especially the people who come in for festivities in Milledgeville, are the ones he triggers. They have no clue that he does this everyday or that he probably makes more money than they do a day. It's easy for them to feel bad and feel like they need to help him out unlike me, who sees his day to day activities and his hopelessness.
He actually came into Blackbird the other day and was telling Chris that he wants to stop asking for money and actually get his own apartment. This was such a delight to hear. But knowing him so well makes it hard for me to believe he'll actually do it. I want to have faith in him and believe that what he says is really what he wants to do. I just watched him get a few bucks from a lady I've never seen before.
I know that no one can change over a night but I really, really, hope he chooses to change his lifestyle for the better. I worry about his health, physically and mentally. I've grown to really love him. So please be praying for him.
In case you were wondering why I no longer give him money: my friends and I used to always give him food. That's the only thing I will ever give him. Well food and love. I don't want to feel like the money I give him is going towards drugs or alcohol.
No comments:
Post a Comment