Man on the river
I was drying the kids off after a swim in the river when we heard a strange noise from behind us. Moments later a man pushing a shopping cart along the broken gravel road appeared.
He wore a black hoodie and black shorts, his face wasn’t visible. The trolley was full of what looked like all of his possessions. He started yelling out something. A shaky voice, distance and the sound of the rattling trolley made it difficult to hear what he said. He yelled again and started moving faster towards us. At this point I noticed myself feeling uneasy about his approach, I lifted my kids into the boot of the car and stood in front of them. “Sorry mate I couldn't hear what you said” He stopped and took his hoodie off, he had really scruffy hair and red eyes, I noticed that his whole body was shaking slightly.
At this point I was already planning my escape. All my senses were feeding me information - The sound, the feel, the sight and the smell of him. All suggesting that this guy was no good.
I couldn’t really get moving too quick, so instead I engaged in conversation.
Right away, when I surrendered to the fact that I couldn’t bail, I begun receiving different information on the level of the senses.
He said “Are you staying here for a while? I haven’t slept in days and I would like to have a quick rest. Can you watch my stuff for a while. It’s hard to find someone trustworthy and I can’t afford to lose my fishing rod or any of my gear again”.
He had saved up for a crab trap and was catching lobsters and mud crabs for a local restaurant, but some kids stole all his fishing gear and the new trap when he was sleeping. He was able to buy a new fishing rod but hasn’t been able to feel safe enough to sleep since being robbed.
At this stage in the conversation my guard had dropped and the kids began to feel more comfortable too. They asked him if he had caught any big fish. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone, the screen was cracked but it was a relatively new one. He then showed the kids a few picture of fish he had caught.
He went on to tell me that he hadn’t been homeless for long and that until recently had been a head chef in a restaurant in Melbourne. He showed me a photo of himself with the rest of staff, he looked really happy in the photo and clean cut in comparison to his current state.
“My sister died and I didn’t deal with it well, I’ve been mentally challenged for a few years now and feel more comfortable being homeless. I wear a hoodie to scare people off so I can be alone when I don’t feel like being around anyone. It works pretty well. Most people don’t want to come near me, especially when I have my trolley too.
It’s a strange life being homeless, kinda like another world that I’m slowly getting to know. I don’t think i’ll stay homeless, but right now it feels like the best way to heal.”
This encounter made me think about how many times our senses deceive us by constructing a story based on previous experience. This false model of the world, created by our old experiences or beliefs, gets in the way of a genuine opportunity to commune with our fellow human beings.
photo. Lisa Sorgini