Well, this is the time. In a few hours the temporary warming station that I have been staying at will be closed and I’ll be back to sleeping on the ground in the woods or wherever I can find a few hours of peace without someone, some thing, or nature disturbing me. It will not go without some trouble I’m afraid.
At roughly 5am this morning, I awoke needing to relieve myself of some fluid, so I made my way to the restroom. I finished my business and just as I was leaving the stall, another homeless man, K, walked into the room. As I’m washing my hands, he comments on how all the other volunteers (all of whom are supposed to remain awake during the night for emergencies) seem to be able to make do with cots and chairs to rest in, the pastor’s wife and her cohort moved the couches that had been moved to the side and covered with cloths and that no one was to sit on because they needed to be cleaned (at least that’s the story I and most of the homeless were told when they were set aside in the first few days we were here). I finish washing my hands and get paper towels to dry them and as I reach for the door, it opens.
Who should come into the men’s restroom other than the pastor’s wife and her cohort? I walk past them into the hallway, but I’m moved to ask, “Why did you come into the men’s restroom without knocking or announcing your presence before entering?”
She replied that this was her church, and she had the right to go where and whenever she wanted (I thought this was supposed to be God’s house first and foremost), and that she heard some kind of noise that aroused her curiosity. The only sounds in that restroom were my and K’s voices, the running water, and the sound of the paper towel dispensers. I was then ordered to return to the room where I had been sleeping.
That’s when I started writing this post. How many of you would have your privacy violated that way just for a bed and a warm evening meal, a sometimes warm/hot breakfast and a bag lunch that would make most school children roll their eyes?
If you are with me in stopping this sort of thing here and now, please spread the word about this website where ever you may be to anyone that might be interested. Because, I would really like for something to change for the better in this area. Have a good day.
