nightcrawlers

I spent another day in the office until 5AM putting together a submission. As I exited the office I was about to hail one of the dozens of taxis milling about but decided to walk home instead. I was very tired, but even more, I felt compressed from spending 19 hours in the same office chair and my head was still full of thoughts.

Usually when I walk home late at night from the office I am careful to avoid as many homeless people as possible, and tiptoe around those who I have to walk past. I hate to think that I might wake someone up and remind them that there is no real privacy. I think that the majority of the homeless people are foreigners. There is a multicultural group that coexist in one of the tunnels passing under the road, and they have very tidy spaces and are well kept. I hope that they will be able to move out one day.

At 5 AM there were some other people sleeping on the street that I had never seen. One guy was laying in the middle of the sidewalk along Queensway. I tried to pick my way around him and he woke up and made some strange noises and shook his money cup at me. Okay, so clearly he was nuts. If I had not come to that conclusion from him sleeping in the open, in the center of the sidewalk, then I knew it now.

In the tunnel, the usual group was sleeping. As I walked toward the end, a young lady emerged from her mattress to get herself some water. I was shocked that she was among the group because she was so young. There were some trendy clothes and high heeled boots close by, hanging up to dry. She looked a bit embarrassed that I was looking at her so I said hello and she nodded back.

Times like this make me so grateful for what I have. It is impossible for me to comprehend this young lady's life, working throughout the day and then returning home late at night to a tunnel where people like me pass by on our way home.

When I did finally reach home, SB was snoring lightly with his arm around my pillow and his leg where it usually is, resting over my body. I lifted his leg and crawled into the space to cuddle up with him. He squeezed me and went back to snoring.

Comments

Jennifer W said…
Love this post. Now I will be the voice of your mother and say "Carol! Stop walking home through tunnels in the wee hours of the morning with homeless people strewn about! You're liable to get yourself killed! Or poke your eye out! Also, be careful when you do this anyway."