Day 15. 19th June
We got up when Aaron left for work & headed to town via bus & train. We were stopped several times & given dirty looks lots…and $5 by someone who believed in what we were doing.
We took a train to the outskirts of town, then Paul saw Greyhound & decided to try for a free ticket.
Hulio, the Greyhound customer service rep was ultra friendly & positive, but Beurocracy had tied his hands. He told us if we went to Central, we may well get to
We decided it was worth the gamble of an extra hour & took the train back again into town.
We met all kinds of colourful people on the train, with all kinds of interesting ideas & philosophies.
The Greyhound manager took an instant distain to Paul’s desecrated hair & she refused to even listen to his suggestion of help, being that his wallet was in LA & our last $7 were given away.
Not one to take too kindly to feminists with a negative disposition, I went sneaky sneaky & found someone else to talk to.
Sure enough, an angel who told us if we did a little work for ourselves to prove we were sincere - go & get a letter from Ride Assist, 10 blocks away, then they would see what they could do to cover our fare.
We met Matthew, who was waiting on some money to come through so he could get a ride too. He told us about God & how even in our lowest moment, that’s where our greatest strength was. Quite a contrasting attitude to the man we met last night, & the results showed on his face.
We took him with us to ride assistance, where we met James who has been working with the poor of society for 6 years. He was gracious & entertaining, despite being constantly surrounded by those filled with hopelessness & despair.
We spent a little time out & about to see what was about in town & see if we couldn’t peg down a subway sponsorship to keep us from eating our underpants or chewing a pillow in prison as the result of rolling small children for their pastries & doughnuts.
One of the street people had a chuckle at our attempt & guaranteed us that if we tried a restaurant, not a fast food joint, we’d get something to eat. He was right.
The first place we tried, a French Restaurant St Tropez, Chris happily gave us desert for dinner. (I'd planned to get a picture of this, but the excitement of sugary nourishment must've erased the intention from my mind.) Paul & Chris discussed French wine vs American wine & Paul was pleasantly surprised by the complimentary response - as you can see on his face here.
Back at the Greyhound station, we shared out desert with Memu, who’d promised to save us a seat on the bus. We punched out some computer work, while showing Memu, who stepped in a bucket of hot fat & was now the proud holder of a licence which allowed him to legally smoke weed, our photos so far.
When he discovered that my visa was about to expire & I’d have to leave the country soon, he offered me a job at his tree felling company, so I could get a work visa.
Laurence, in the process of becoming a business man, was already practising philanthropy, giving us boiled eggs & nuts to eat & a razor blade each…to do with what we wanted I guess…, while discussing business with Paul.
At 10.45 our bus arrived at last, our ride angel come through for us & we boarded hassle & cost free.
Memu, Laurence, Paul & myself were the only ones on the bus laughing & talking & I’m surprised none of the jolly Greyhound passengers (if you’ve travelled Greyhound you’ll understand what I’m saying here) threw anything at our head to quieten us down so they could sleep.
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