gary.
we have our own personal homeless man at 501 frenchmen st. a few weeks ago, on a monday, we noticed that there was a grungy mattress wedged in the window alcove on the corner of the building. hmm. we didn't think too much of it until we came back from lunch that day and found this guy sitting on it.
i named the guy gary. he looks like he could've been a gary in his previous-hopefully-sheltered-3-piece-suit life.
not only did gary have the typical "i'm a bum on the street" look, he had turned around to reveal this bald, raw, bleeding spot on the back of his head. it looked as if something had literally just taken a chunk out of his scalp. it was NOT pretty. he seemed out of it then, and by the grace of God, there happened to be a wonderful NOPDer walking the street when we had to walk OVER gary to get through our door. with him, we asked gary if he was ok or if he wanted us to look at the giant hole in the back of his head or get him to a hospital or SOMEthing. he didn't, and the policeman gently told him he just coulnd't stay there. he picked up his extra coat and walked away.
well, about 3 weeks later, gary is back. now he has a couch, 2 extra coats, a pair of women's jeans, and he STILL has a giant hole in the back of his head.
i don't get it, it's like he has defied all laws of biology - it's still oozing, but it hasn't spread. sure, it's GOT to be infected, but how has it not spread? how can he still be walking around with a giant chunk taken out of his scalp? it doesn't look like a gunshot or a like he was hit. it almost looks like it was the result of an EXTREMELY angry hairsylist because his hair is wild except in the area of the aforementioned chunk. gary, charity "hospital" is open in lord and taylor; go there or let me practice first-aid on you.
so his "home" - ie his couch - is now right outside of my window in my cubbyhole of an office. i hear him heckling people. i actually started to worry that he would catch me looking through my window at his missing scalp and come flying through the window at me. it's not like he's worried about being cut wiht shattering glass - just look at the back of his head.
robyn, of course, felt it was her duty to call the police on this guy. she felt personally threatened. so we watched through the window as not one, not two, but FOUR policemen came to the rescue. it's good to know that we've got some quick and numerous first-responders back in the area. it made me feel safer on a block where there was a fatal shooting last weekend.
gary was encouraged to leave once again, and the next day someone hauled his couch away. i hope he, at the very least, got some medical professional to look at his head. i haven't seen him since. it's a hell of a time to be homeless in this city. if you see gary, let me know.
i named the guy gary. he looks like he could've been a gary in his previous-hopefully-sheltered-3-piece-suit life.
not only did gary have the typical "i'm a bum on the street" look, he had turned around to reveal this bald, raw, bleeding spot on the back of his head. it looked as if something had literally just taken a chunk out of his scalp. it was NOT pretty. he seemed out of it then, and by the grace of God, there happened to be a wonderful NOPDer walking the street when we had to walk OVER gary to get through our door. with him, we asked gary if he was ok or if he wanted us to look at the giant hole in the back of his head or get him to a hospital or SOMEthing. he didn't, and the policeman gently told him he just coulnd't stay there. he picked up his extra coat and walked away.
well, about 3 weeks later, gary is back. now he has a couch, 2 extra coats, a pair of women's jeans, and he STILL has a giant hole in the back of his head.
i don't get it, it's like he has defied all laws of biology - it's still oozing, but it hasn't spread. sure, it's GOT to be infected, but how has it not spread? how can he still be walking around with a giant chunk taken out of his scalp? it doesn't look like a gunshot or a like he was hit. it almost looks like it was the result of an EXTREMELY angry hairsylist because his hair is wild except in the area of the aforementioned chunk. gary, charity "hospital" is open in lord and taylor; go there or let me practice first-aid on you.
so his "home" - ie his couch - is now right outside of my window in my cubbyhole of an office. i hear him heckling people. i actually started to worry that he would catch me looking through my window at his missing scalp and come flying through the window at me. it's not like he's worried about being cut wiht shattering glass - just look at the back of his head.
robyn, of course, felt it was her duty to call the police on this guy. she felt personally threatened. so we watched through the window as not one, not two, but FOUR policemen came to the rescue. it's good to know that we've got some quick and numerous first-responders back in the area. it made me feel safer on a block where there was a fatal shooting last weekend.
gary was encouraged to leave once again, and the next day someone hauled his couch away. i hope he, at the very least, got some medical professional to look at his head. i haven't seen him since. it's a hell of a time to be homeless in this city. if you see gary, let me know.
posted by Catherine at 7:37 PM
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