Not Another Day

Yesterday I headed off to downtown. There is this site called king of happy hour and I checked it out to find this place that had 2 dollar bud lights. It's called redzone. Maybe if the crowd was better or maybe if it wasn't right next to the trolley stop it might have been a decent place to watch the game. But its right next to the trolley stop and the crowd is... not so much. Not wanting to deal with traffic and not wanting to pay for parking I decided to park way out of the gas lamp district. Plus I decided it would be a good walk if I ended up having one too many. I had also gone down to help out and donate some money for a homeless shelter's kids halloween party. Apparently they had requested fried chicken and the person in charge was raising funds to grant them their request. Anyways on the walk down to the gaslamp from where I parked I noticed a bum was wrapped up and sleeping. It was all of 645 pm. I thought to myself, if I was a bum I would never go to sleep early- I would rock out til the morning. But thats just me. Anyways after the failure of redzone I headed off to rock bottom to meet up with Claudia and her friend so that I could drop off the money. There I basically crashed a birthday party, had a couple more drinks and found myself sitting next to some british guy who had just flown in. We start talking about sports. apparently he is a big cowboys fan and he tells me why that is. Back in London when he was like 10 he had recorded the superbowl that they were playing. Since they won bam he became a fan. He is actually like a real fan too- knows all the players and what not. Anyways during this I had to interrupt him to let him know I didn't speak Celtic. Haha thats my new thing I guess. He just laughed and said he couldn't help his accent- I told him I was just kidding. He also said He loved San Diego and that this was his second time back and that out of all the places in the USA this was his favorite? Oh yeah?
" Then tell me sir why would you parade yourself in downtown san diego wearing a giant shirt?"
"I thought since the Paaaadres (attempting his accent) weren't in it you all would be rooting for the california team."
" First of all its Pawdres not whatever you just called them haha just kidding. But seriously no. No padre fan is gonna sit here and tell you to wear a giants shirt and cheer them to world series victory..."
" Have you been to the Zoo?"
"no."
"How can you possibly say you love San Diego the most out of any city including LA and New York and not have gone to the zoo? you know its world famous? Other than the stupid pandas its a must stop."
hahaha we just started laughing- this guy knows comedy. He's here for another couple of days and I left him with a to do list for while he is here- Pacific and Ocean Beach, Cabrillo National Monument, Golden hill and north park, and the Zoo, haha.
After a brief stop at the whiskey girl, I decided I needed to call it a night. I had exceeded my allotment of beverages I had planned to drink but that was ok because it had been a nice night. I had a long walk back to the car and I figured if that wasnt good enough I could just hang out for a bit. On my way back, I notice the bum ( I forgot to ask what they prefer to be called a bum, homeless, or hobo...)that was sleeping earlier was no longer wrapped up and he was just looking up at the buildings and sky. Figuring I had time to kill, I stopped.
" Hey can I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"Why do you go to sleep so early?"
" Nothing else to do. plus if I wake up early I can get in line for some free coffee and bread at the shelter."
"Makes sense..."
At this point in realizing he is not crazy, not irrational, and seems quite normal I decide to ask him another question.
" Can I ask you something else?"
" yeah go ahead..."- He's just lounging in his sleeping bag with his belongings at his feet looking up at the night sky and buildings. I wasn't trying to change the guys life, or trying to document the plight of the homeless. I was just trying to converse with who I thought would be one to bring interesting conversation.
" What did you do before?"
" Before I lived on the streets?"
"Yeah before you used the union building sign as a night light."
He laughs.
" I worked construction. I was a laborer. Then I lost my job and didnt bother getting another one. So I ended up here"
" No family?"
I don't remember his reponse to that one because he asked me a question. I had by the point sat down on the sidewalk
" What do you do?"
" I am out of work. I used to work in insurance. But I havent worked since February."
" Do you get unemployment?"
"yeah but its not nearly enough. Its not what I'm used to getting paid."
"well at least its something."
I stop and think real quick. Here I was about to start bitching about the small amount of money my unemployment check was to some guy who was sleeping on the sidewalk. How much of an asshole am I?
" you're right"
The guy then asks me;
" You still looking for a job?"
"yeah actually but my credit is preventing me from hired. I actually got selected for an underwriting spot down here in one of these buildings about a couple of weeks ago. Commercial underwriting. But when they asked me about my credit and I told them about some things, they told me they wouldnt be able to hire me. So I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. I have an interview Friday in LA."
" LA huh? I prefer stayin down here"
I realize I am talking more about me so I bring it back to him.
" So you think you will ever not live out here?"
" I hope I don't but I'm not exactly trying- I sometimes drink too much."
" Me too man."
The rest is regular guy b.s. the chargers, padres, Adrian Gonzalez, hot women that walk by him sometimes, that almost motivate him to get back to work...
I finally decide to call it a night and as I am leaving I decide what the hell...
" Here man. I am broke as fuck myself but figure I would probably just end up drinking this away anyways." I handed him a 20.
" Are you sure man? Thanks! This is like coffee and food for a week."
" Man I don't care if you buy a beer with it too. I just..." I realized I was stereotyping him.
" Dude its yours to do what you want."
At this point we had awoken another homeless guy and he starts asking the guy I was talking to if he'd buy him something in the morning. what the hell...

" Dude here you go." I handed him a 10. Why? Because honestly, those 30 bucks to me just represented about 6 beers. To them it represented more important things. I'm not mother teresa or anyshit like that- I'm just a guy who drinks and needed to chill for a bit before heading on home. As I am walking away;

" Hey thanks again for the money man- Good luck with your interview in LA."
" No problem man. Thanks."

His name was Eric.

Not Another Day by Atmosphere-third verse.