If you work downtown, you’ve probably been talking to your colleagues about the change in the homeless population downtown. My ears have caught wind of many segments of such conversations while sailing by on my skateboard.
After two overdoses right outside the front door of our office building, I told Carmen to hold off on bringing Buck down for visits right now.
In allies I’ve seen people shooting up, defecating, and having sex. Out in the open, I’ve seen homeless dudes threaten homeless women and rob them, beat on other men, take their clothes off, smash out car windows, and intimidate easy marks.
Lately, there has been a lot of what I call the herky jerk, twitching and writhing, a mad dance under the influence of whatever. During the height of the herk last week, I was threatened for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd times since I’ve been skateboarding downtown a little over two years.
But in the face of it all, I’ve seen a lot humanity in the homeless. They’ve shared their stories and thoughts, wished me well, and even given me gifts on occasion.
I’ve also seen humanity in many of the police officers who seem to be making a move this week to push loiterers and sleepers out of certain spaces. I saw two arrests yesterday and the police were as calm as could be. At the same time, they’ve left me alone to skate at will with many of them even saying hello and greeting me as I cruise by despite the city’s biased ordinance against skateboarders.
The city of Indy is going through some major growing pains that I believe are going to get worked out if the politicians don’t louse it up. It’s up to our elected officials, and it’s up to all of us who live and work here.
Don’t forget to take a small moment each day to ask the universe what you can do to help others. In the process, you’ll be helping whoever the universe presents to you and yourself more than you can presently imagine.
May we all prosper together!