My city, like every city in this Country, has its fair share of homeless people. Some are annoying, some are dangerous, and some are people like you and me that have had just too many bad luck breaks.
That describes Albert Witherspoon a local homeless legend, pest, enigma or hero of the GOP (he is a true self-starter).
Albert has no legs. He has no home. He has a wheelchair that is falling apart, but he has his dignity.
He also has a police-issued violation charging him with breaking the law. His offense? Operating a business without a proper city business license. It might cost him $762.50 if found guilty.
More after the break.
So, what is his business? He cleans hub caps for a few bucks here and there. I've watched him and it looks pretty damn hard sitting in a wheel chair, cleaning hub caps.
I have seen Albert all over town. Pumping his arms as fast as he could to make it across traffic in his junk yard wheelchair. He is a constant across the city. Wheeling around, no legs, but with a spray bottle and a filthy cloth asking if he can "wash your wheels for some cash".
I oftened wondered what his story was. What happened to this guy? Why is he missing BOTH legs? How does a homeless guy survive much less without the use of legs? I occassionally bought him a cup of coffee or a bagel but never bothered to talk to the guy.
What a story...
Witherspoon's "business"?
Cleaning car hubcaps in the Five Points shopping area to get money.
"I like to work for my money. I don't like to get no dern handouts," said Witherspoon, 41, from whose wheelchair hang a spray bottle and a cloth to clean hubcaps.
Witherspoon's citation is the latest episode in a long-running struggle featuring the city's small army of homeless and its police, merchants and citizens -- some of whom feel harassed by the homeless, and some of whom want to help them.
Of all of Columbia's hundreds of homeless, Witherspoon is -- because of his severe disability and his plucky insistence on working for his money -- one of the most unforgettable.
"He's a symbol of the homeless in this town," said former Columbia City Council member Luther Battiste, who often buys Witherspoon something to eat and drink at the Five Points Starbucks. "He is a person whom a lot of people want to help and a lot of people like."
Battiste, an attorney, has known Witherspoon for five years, when the homeless man was raking yards from his wheelchair to earn extra money.
"He was brought up with a work ethic. He always wants to do something for his money," Battiste said.
So who in their right mind could find fault with this guy?
Not everyone sees Witherspoon the same way.
Dennis Hiltner, president of the Five Points Association and owner of that area's Gourmet Shop, said Witherspoon is part of a widespread problem affecting merchants and customers alike. Area homeless seeking money frighten shoppers and make them uncomfortable, he said.
"They are bad for business," Hiltner said, adding Witherspoon's offers to clean people's hubcaps for money are intimidating to some people.
"I welcome the police's increased efforts to help us with this problem," Hiltner said.
Police gave Witherspoon a ticket late last week. He faces trial downtown at 8 a.m. Friday. He said he'll negotiate the two miles from Five Points to city court on Washington Street in his wheelchair.
"I want a jury trial," he said.
Witherspoon said he lost his legs in 1999 in a construction accident in Fairfield County. A bulldozer rolled over on him, he said.
These days, he wears a colostomy bag because he doesn't have complete control of his bodily functions. The palm of his right hand has open deep gashes in it from the weather and propelling his wheelchair.
Despite his handicap, Witherspoon said he's happy to be alive and to be able to get around in his wheelchair.
"By the grace of God, I'm still holding on and keeping a smile on my face."
What a story.
Just another guy, in Bush's America trying to make it any kind of way he can.
Next time I see Albert I think I'll give him the bagel and let him wash my rims. Maybe I, and others will stop and talk to him. Ask him how he's doing.
You never know a person until you walk in their shoes, or in this case push their wheels.