Last night, I got lottoed out of the Vehicles Allowed Interim Housing site along with 7 or 8 others. After we were lottoed out, the PADS counselor said he'd call the other site to see whether they had openings. A couple of people said, "no thank you", but most of us said thank you and waited for him to return with the results.
In the meantime, two of the guys were having a discussion - one of the guys was the man who had asked me out a couple of times, and had gotten to where he was making me feel uncomfortable. (You might remember, when driving away after our last conversation, I kept watching the rearview mirror to see whether he was following me.)
Since then I'd observed that he was no longer driving his own vehicle and wondered how he was getting to & keeping his job (which he'd described as his 'best paying'.) The other guy in that pair owns a car (that broke down on Sunday morning), but doesn't have a valid license. The car owner is VERY ANGRY at PADS (he seems like he's VERY ANGRY at something, all of the time) and decided not to travel to the other site. After the PADS counselor returned, Mr. Date Requests asked whether I'd drive him to the other site.
1) My passenger seat is covered with a pile of stuff. 2) None of the seats in the back of the van are set up, because of all the stuff back there. 3) I don't feel comfortable transporting someone who is not in a seat.
There were other reasons besides those, but they were enough. He remained at the vehicle site in Downers Grove, and 5 or 6 of us were sent to the other site - the First Church of Lombard.
I like it when the interim sites are within a reasonable distance of the PADS Center - that is, in Wheaton, Lisle, Naperville or Downers Grove. But I also get nervous in some (Naperville, Downers Grove) because I taught dog classes in each for several years. I don't particularly want to run into a student in this situation. It's funny when it's in the grocery store - not so much, in a homeless shelter.
I lived in Lombard for my first 30 years or so, went to school there. My Grandma (Dad's mom) was a member of the First Church of Lombard. I didn't run into anyone I knew, but it was still a weird feeling.
I was placed next to a woman whose name I should know, but I can't remember. I mostly think of her as the lady who is going to cough up a lung. I once asked her if she was ok, and she about bit my head off, so I just ignore it now. Except when she goes out for her smoke break. Here's something I noticed last night: She didn't cough once before the smoke break. Not one time...
I'm not worried about catching anything from her - I figure she's probably got one type or another of COPD - and that it's self inflicted.
I woke up this morning and got ready to leave. When I walked over to get my lunch bag (which did not have a sandwich in it, I discovered a couple of hours ago...) some PADS clients were telling someone that they were sick, dirty, something... I kept going to the table of the bagged lunches, and someone came out of the kitchen to clean up the floor. Thank goodness I hadn't stepped where apparently someone had defecated in the middle of the floor.
Honest to Pete. I want to go home. And then to crawl under my bed, if I had one.
But this is happening right now: Thank you to tmc222, I have downloaded nearly all 7 of the Stephen Fry narrated Harry Potter audiobooks. I will get to sleep with Stephen again tonight. He and Harry will make the coughing lady Anapneo.
That's the news from the homeless at the Woodridge Public Library.
© 2015 sheddhead – not to be used without written consent of the author, unless quoting portions of this diary on DailyKos, with links back to the original quotation