For the last several years I’ve seen a man in my neighborhood that is homeless. The first time I saw him about three years ago, he was sitting on a bench outside of the grocery store about three blocks from my house. At that time I assumed he was homeless because he was surrounded by about a half-dozen plastic bags…and they weren’t the grocery store bags. He didn’t look dirty or disheveled. His hair and beard were well groomed. His clothes looked clean and decent. He was ruggedly handsome.
At the time I didn’t think too much about it simply because he was so well groomed and clean. I assumed he had a clean, safe place to go every night.
Then I saw him sitting on the bench almost every time I went to the grocery store. Nothing changed about him or his belongings. I was strangely curious because I’ve heard that most homeless people have a level of mental illness, but I still could not comprehend carrying all of my belongings with me and walking the streets.
After quite some time of seeing him, all of a sudden I didn’t, but was still curious about him, and hoped he found a place to live. I wondered where he went when it was raining, snowing, or bitterly cold.
Spring came and as the weather warmed up, he reappeared. He wasn’t hanging out on the bench at the grocery store anymore. I saw him, with his growing collection of bags, sleeping under trees. First on one side of the street, then the other side of the street, and then several blocks away leaning against a wall at the gas station. This went on for about three or four years.
He reappeared about two months ago when the weather warmed up once again. His collection of bags was growing and growing. I often mentioned to my husband that we should get him a wagon to make it easier to move all those bags.
See, what he does is take two bags in each hand, walks about twenty or thirty feet down the sidewalk, and puts them down. He returns to his previous ‘residence’, picks up four more bags and walks them to where he put the first set of bags. He continues this practice until all the bags are moved. Then he starts the process all over again and again until he reaches his new destination.
I’ve never seen anyone approach him and was a little apprehensive myself. I’m a member of an online neighborhood group so I decided to post something about him to see if anyone had more insight. I received many responses. Several knew his name was Jeff. Some people said he was very mean as they had approached him with food and offers of a wagon for his belongings…always turning down both.
I told my son about him and he said that one day as he was driving to my house, he noticed ‘Jeff’ walking with a bunch of bags and assumed they were groceries. He pulled over and offered him a ride. Jeff told him to go f**k himself.
So it’s pretty obvious that ‘Jeff’ wants to be left alone, carry all of his belongings without assistance, and wants to sleep under trees. He’s not hurting anyone but it’s nice to know that many people are watching out after him.
About ten years ago there was another homeless man standing day in and day out at the end of an exit ramp from the Interstate. He held a cardboard sign saying he was homeless and wanted money for food. I never saw anyone give him anything, but I don’t hang out at the exit ramp of the Interstate.
About a year later there was an article about him in the newspaper. So many people had seen him and were curious enough to contact the newspaper. They sent out a reporter to interview the guy and he was nice enough to answer the reporters’ questions.
He admitted that asking for handouts was easier than keeping a job and that he did quite well at it. Florida was his winter home and he couch-surfed all the way there in fall and headed back this way in spring. I don’t recall everything the article said about him, but he seemed content doing just what he was doing.
As we’ve heard, it takes a village to raise a child. In these types of cases, that same village could help the ‘Jeffs’ of this world with food, clothing, and a wagon…if they wanted the help.
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