Ok, without going into much detail I am very streetwise. I have had guns held point blank at my head numerous times and lived to blog about it!

Even though most of the homeless are relatively harmless there is a very dangerous aspect of people who primarily are in survival mode. People on drugs, or just simply desperate, can be extremely unpredictable! There is also a subculture to any homeless park. The freaks, the fringe, the king and his servants, the knuckleheads, the suppliers, the bullies and those just stuck on stupid. Being aware of your surroundings is crucial.

This past Saturday I noticed a couple of knuckleheads walking into the park. I quickly walked over and engaged them in conversation to see if there might be trouble. I’ll be honest with you, they were hardcore and I decided to walk away after a very brief conversation. I seriously was concerned and thought it was best just to keep my eye on them from a distance.

To my shock, right as I started to walk away, this kid came running up with a handful of goodies saying “would you like some socks?” I turned around quickly to defuse the situation BUT, and this is huge, these two hardcore knuckleheads melted from the generosity. Seriously, when I spoke to them not one second sooner, they were street hard. After the kid offered socks and water they were all smiles! They even let me take their picture which is very rare in this situation.

Love can break down all barriers and sometimes it takes the innocence of a child to remind us of that truth.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 2:08 am and is filed under Internet, Just Me, Life's Lessons, My Big Mouth, Outreach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.