I thought that by starting this blog I would realize how often I was asked for money. I originally believed that I got asked for money all the time. As it turns out, I don't. Today I was asked for money, and from looking at this blog, I realize that I was last asked for money in early October. I guess I should revise my time scale.
This morning I took one of the residents of Potters House to the Probation & Parole (P&P) Office on Mercer St. I took him there in the Potters House van. On the way there, the resident told me that he had never in his life been to a meeting with a parole officer. When I asked him if he had ever been on Mercer Road, he told me that he hadn't. He said he also hadn't been on a city bus. I told him that later on I would teach him to ride a bus.
I talked to him about how to address the officer. Earlier this morning I showed him the picture of the officer from the listing of officers from P&P that was sent to me earlier this year from a supervisor from that office. I said that he should pretend that he didn't know her first name even though I had shown him her first name. I told him he either needed to refer to her as Ms ____, or just say Ma'am. We were at the P&P office for about an hour.
After the meeting with his parole officer, I was on the way back to the house. It was about 12:45, and I was hungry. I didn't have any food at my office, so I asked the resident if he minded if stopped to get some food at the gas station. He said he didn't mind. He had plenty of time. He had a job interview at 4. I told him that after we got back to the house, I would eat lunch while he got ready for the interview.
When we stopped at the gas station, I went inside to get some food. When I returned to the van and started to turn it around at the gas station so I could get out of the parking lot, someone in a car waved at me as if to roll my window down. I did. He said, "I'm not asking for money, but wanted to know if you could help me with some gas. I have a friend who has an appointment in Louisville, and I am his only ride. I didn't have gas for the trip, but I was praying that we would be able to stop at this gas station where someone would be able to help.
I didn't spend more than a second to come up with an answer for him. I simply said, "yes", and turned the van around to park beside where I could put gas in his car. I put my own debt card in the gas pump and then put the hose in his car. While I filled the tank, the man told me the story about praying for help with gas and how immediately afterward, he asked me and I said yes. He told me his name was "Big Al".
The reason why it was so easy for me to give him gas was because this morning when I woke up I looked at my online bank account. I noticed a payment that had been made to my wife for something that we weren't expecting until closer to Christmas. It was a no-brainer to give someone gas since we had received something that we hadn't been expecting.
While we talked for those few minutes I told him about Lexington Rescue Mission. He had already noticed the logo on the side of the bus and asked about it. He wanted to know if we helped with or took Section 8 Housing. I told him we didn't. We can help with employment, transitional housing, reentry from jail or prison, outreach services and pastoral care, but I was pretty sure that we didn't help with Section 8 Housing. The total amount of money for gas that I pumped was $25 or $26. I filled his gas tank. I told him that hopefully it would get him to Louisville and back.
Just before I finished pumping, he asked if it was okay with me, I could take his phone number and address, and then if I had a few dollars to help him and his friend out with some food, he could return the money to me when he got back to Lexington. I told him I was sorry, but I didn't carry cash. That is true; I don't carry cash. However, I would not have given him cash anyway. Putting my debt card in the gas pump will not allow someone to turn what I give into money for drugs or alcohol.
After that encounter, I turned the van around and drove toward the Potters House.
At 2:04 PM, the same resident who was at the P&P Office and I got on the number 7 bus that picks up just outside of the Potters House. I showed him where to "tap" his bus card that we give to our residents so they can ride the bus. I showed him the yellow cord on the bus that he needed to pull when he wanted to get off the bus. I showed him from my phone where the bus was traveling on Google maps, and where he needed to get off the bus when he got close to where he had the job interview. I even taught him how to get a bus transfer ticket when he was getting off the bus at the Transit Center so he could get on the next bus in the route to his destination.
As we got to the half way point of the number 7 route, a young man got on the bus who had put his bicycle on the front of the bus. He looked dope sick. That means that I believed he was a drug user who needed to use drugs again very soon or he would continue to get more sick. The young man sat down not far from where I was sitting. He looked at me and asked the question, "do you have a dollar?" I told him that I was sorry but I never carry cash.
As the bus started back toward the transit center, the bus stopped in front of the Bryan Station Kroger on New Circle. It picked up an older man who was carrying a bag of bread and some cat litter along with a few other people. A few stops later the young man with the bicycle was getting off the bus. He made a blanket statement to a bunch of people. He said he was trying to get a dollar because he was short of money. The older man with the cat litter pulled out his wallet and gave a dollar bill to the young man.
The young man took the dollar and immediately turned to get ready to get off the bus. I was a little surprise that just before the bus stopped to let him off, the young man looked at the old man and quietly said, "thanks." The old man apparently didn't respond because the young man said, "did you hear me?" When the old man looked up, they young man looked into his eyes and said, "thanks." The old man nodded at him.
It is fascinating to me to see and hear what I'm exposed to every day. I lucky that I know how to ride a bus and how to address a parole officer so that I'm allowed to be in the places that allow me to observe people who I find interesting to watch.
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