Chicago has it's fair share of hoboes. I pass by them on my way to work every day. Some people call them bums (or worse), but I'm not sure this does their chosen profession any real service. A bum is just someone you don't like ... a hobo is practically a lifestyle.
Two excellent examples last night. One was the one eyed (medical patch), clearly intoxicated, hobo who wandered into traffic quite voluntarily and wavered his way in front of a car. A normal hobo might have shown fear here ... but this guy simply held out his hand (and all of this was especially impressive since I think the oncoming danger was to his blind side) and waited for the car to stop. Then he wagged his finger in disapproval and stumbled the remaining three feet to the curb.
If that wasn't impressive enough, one hobo out of a group of many leaned to me while passing and asked for twenty dollars. Twenty bucks. Not the usual twenty cents that hoboes seem to be always missing for that bus fare they need to get to that job interview they think they have ... but twenty whole bucks.
Very enterprising.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
City Life: Hoboes On Chicago Avenue
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6 comments:
Sorry -- the hobo walking into the street was me. It's a little sociological experiment I've been working on. You fell right into my carefully planned trap.
Now if I could just get this eye patch off.
From the state you were in last night - less drinking might aid in those necessary motor skills...
I should also mention that the car you saw ignoring me was the only one that didn't give me change. All the others did. I netted a cool $5.06. It's going into The Kid's college fund.
Now think how much you could make if you would just ask for $20 a pop.
I did say "net" so keep in mind that's the total less eye patch related expenses, permits and union fees.
Good point - that bottle of Ripple for a union fee adds up over a while.
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