June 3, 2011

A quick note:  I'm going to begin posting a "Song of the Day" at the beginning of each post.  It will be a youtube video featuring a song of no particular importance.  Today's song is "Dog House Boogie" by Seasick Steve.

I arrived at the Salvation Army last night just ahead of the 9:45 curfew.  I'm signed in and given a clean towel and a bar of soap to shower.  One rule at the Salvation Army is that everyone who stays must have good hygiene, and the Salvation Army provides all necessary toiletries.  From what I can tell, everyone willingly follows this rule.  Everyone has showered and are wearing clean clothes by the time I've arrived each night.  There is also a laundry room that residents may use as they wish.  I'm buzzed inside the men's dorm and I go put my backpack down in my room.  Each room has 4 beds (2 bunk beds) and 4 storage areas.  My storage area reminds me of the cubbyhole that I put my coat and lunchbox in when I was in the 2nd grade.  Wendell is already asleep in his bed when I walk in.  It looks like we have a new roommate who is sleeping in the bed below me.  I saw him at breakfast the day prior.  He is a 40 something white guy who is about 6' 6".  His feet hang off the bed and he snores loudly.

I decide to go into the TV room to see if the Mavericks game is on.  There are about 20 guys gathered around watching the game.  They inform me that it's halftime so I go and take a shower.  A bathroom is shared by the residents of two adjoining rooms for a maximum of 8 guys to a bathroom.  The shower is not bad.  There is plenty of hot water and the showerhead has adequate pressure.  I am probably the seventh or eighth guy to use it today, but the shower is cleaned every morning as part of the daily chores.  Daily chores are assigned by bed number and listed on the door of every room.  I learn that Blackie hates the top bunk, but the chore assigned to that bed is to empty the trash which doesn't take very long so the top bunk is where he stays.  I requested a new bed yesterday morning because I don't like having to stay after breakfast to clean.  My request went ignored, but cleaning the dining room gives me the chance to listen to The Doctor since he apparently likes to stay late and dispense knowledge to anyone willing to listen. 

After my shower, I put some clean clothes on and head to the TV room.  Everyone is out for a smoke break, but I decide to sit in one of the chairs on the side of the room.  I don't know how some of these guys would feel about the new guy sitting front and center on the tough-to-see TV.  Everyone files back in and sits down.  Most of the guys I recognize from the night before, but there are a couple of new faces.  Blackie takes a seat front and center and he's pretty animated when it comes to the game.  It's like watching the game with the announcer from NBA Jam.  I didn't realize it until now, but Blackie's a little slow.  At one point, Dirk Nowitzki hits a three and Blackie stands up, gives a hip thrust and, from what I can tell, gives LeBron permission to sleep with his sister.  It's very unnerving.  Luckily, everyone here is a Mavs fan.  One particular guy has a decent amount of basketball savvy.  I didn't see him here the night before, and I learn it's because he has just returned to Lubbock from the west coast.  He's a short white guy in his late 50s and says that he is a Vietnam veteran.  Like most residents, I don't catch his name but he looks like a Carl.  I get the impression that Carl does not particularly care for black people from some of the things that he says during the game.  He's in the wrong room, and I fear for his safety should he let something slip in the heat of the moment.

There's a white guy sitting next to me who looks like he could be the dad of one of my friends.  He's about fifty, clean cut, and wears reading glasses.  He's not paying much attention to the game, and he's about 200 pages into a 300 page book.  I catch a glimpse of the cover and the title says something about addiction.  During one commercial break, the front desk clerk walks by and asks how the book is going.  They begin to talk sort of vaguely about his addiction and how he is progressing with handling it.  The room gradually falls silent as everyone begins listening to him.  He realizes that everyone is listening, but he doesn't seem to mind and he gives a brief summary of the book and how he relates to it.  He then says that he hasn't had a drink in 62 days and everyone is genuinely happy for him.  A few guys throw out "congratulations" or "that's good" and the room gets quiet again as everyone focuses on the game.  I begin watching Blackie and I can see that the wheels are turning.  "I just don't see how anyone can be addicted to sex!?" he loudly exclaims with a puzzled look on his face. Nobody speaks and I feel that we have all dodged a bullet when LeBron is called for travelling and Blackie stands and asks LeBron how he likes him now.  I guess walking is one thing Blackie can relate to.

When the game ends, everyone heads to their rooms.  Blackie is on top of the world as he climbs into bed.  Wendell wakes up as we come in.  He rolls over, cracks open a can of coke called "Red Flash" and asks who won the game.  Blackie tells him that the Mavs came back in the 4th to win the game and says that Nowitzki is the best player of all time.  By the time he's finished with his description, Wendell has finished his drink.  He sets the empty can on the floor and rolls over.  He's snoring within a few minutes and loudly farts.  It seems that Blackie has grown cocky with the Mavericks win and states, to no one in particular, that he's going to slap someone upside the head if that one stinks.  I guess it doesn't stink because I don't hear from Blackie for the rest of the night.

I wake up in the morning and get dressed.  Many of the residents are already up doing their chores.  I go into the TV room where ten or so guys are watching "Married with Children."  Somebody remarks that Christina Applegate had one of her breasts removed.  Carl corrects them and says that she had both of them removed.  "It was a double mastectomy." he says.  I am surprised by every part of this conversation, and I have to fact check when I get to work.  Matt LeBlanc makes a brief appearance during this episode of MwC and Carl refers to him as Joey.  My mind has been boggled.  Carl then says that he has already been down to Labor Ready this morning, but there were ten people in line ahead of him so he came back.  It's been a number of years since Carl has been in Lubbock, but he is upset at the changes over at Labor Ready.  "They got rid of the coffee pot and the pretty white girl who used to work the desk" is what I overhear him tell three different people.  Carl really does not take change well.  I then learn that he is most upset that the pretty white girl has been replaced with a hispanic.  A conversation begins about immigration reform.  Everyone agrees that  something needs to be done.  At first, I find this a little strange as I feel these guys can relate to a poor person trying to improve their position.  I then realize that immigrants are competing directly with these guys for jobs.  There's lots of talk about revolution and Wendell says that he thinks it will start in the prisons which seems fairly feasible considering Wendell also thinks that President Obama is solely responsible for his check being late.  I am not sure what check he is referring to, but it seems pretty common for a lot of these guys to get some sort of government assistance.

We all go to breakfast, which is cereal again, and there's quite a bit of grumbling about a lack of variety.  One advantage of homelessness is variety, it seems to me.  But, I've eaten oatmeal for breakfast every day for three years straight.  The prevailing theory for the recent lack of variety is that it's the fault of the late night/early morning desk clerk.  Everybody I hear has something bad to say about him, and I would think that it is due to some residual resentment over last night's delayed smoke break, but he really is a pretty rude guy.  I take a seat and watch everyone file in.  Some people come in with kids in tow and one guy who sat next to me during last night's game helps a lady who has twin girls get her kids situated at a table.  The Doctor comes in and takes a seat at the table next to me.  I'm hoping that he'll tell us all about the physics of the sound Rice Krispies make in milk, but he begins to rail against the judicial system and "Lyin' Larry Ladd" in particular.  From what I have read, "Lyin' Larry Ladd" seems like a pretty good guy as he is a judge who works with the homeless.  I hope The Doctor can expound upon his grievances with the judge, but I am disappointed.  The Doctor then begins a lecture on bandwidth, and it become apparent he doesn't know exactly how bandwidth works as he believes Wikipedia uses the most bandwidth because it has the most hyperlinks of any other website.  At least I've found the source of The Doctor's vast knowledge.  I finish my breakfast and begin to clean as a few stragglers finish their coffee.