I had just bought a round trip ticket from Chicongo to Joliet and back again for $15 and was informed that my Amtrak voucher was now worth $108, when I thought it had been only $21.
The constant ringing in both ears had been stronger than usual and I was hoping to get to the Rockies before the sinus goo drained into my lungs.
A young man walked in with a much more worn version of my new rucksack and said hello and mentioned that he hated this country, trains most of all, and that he didn’t “recommend running through the Liberty Tunnel by night.”
An ebon yute bought a ticket for he and his service dog, a misbehaving and barking mutt, which the conductor informed him was not a service dog but gave him a ticket anyhow. The bald pale Amtrak man then disappeared into the baggage claim area and the paleface had to wait.
The scruffy young paleface with his ruck sack, in his late 20s, sat down on the floor against the pillar next to me and said, “I don’t hate this country. I hate the trains, government employees and anyplace where I have an ex-girlfriend—meaning Denver and Seattle. I’m also done reading books. This country isn’t what I thought it was. I’ve been on the road for ten years and I just keep getting fucked. I got evicted in Denver, run out of Seattle by insane idiots and then I get sexually assaulted on an Amtrak train and when I complain I feel like the Amtrak officials are going to take the other party’s side and I bailed. I just have to get back on the train with this ticket my mother got me and get back to North Carolina. This country is insane and I found out one thing for sure, that the U.S. Government does not represent the American People.”
I nodded that the bald man was back at the counter and the unnamed fellow with the dark tan of the feral paleface and light brown hair shoulder length, a camo scarf over his face, went to the window.
He explained that he had been sexually assaulted on the last train and had to bail off and hike to this location and that he wanted a continuation. The conductor said, “This has no value.”
The young man then began to raise his voice and the manager—somewhat masculine for an ivory gatekeeper—emerged and I got up and went to the window before the kid got evicted.
I said to the Amtrak man, “Sir, he can use my voucher.”
The ticket was then taken care of and I was informed by the Amtrak man, tinged with a note of disgust, that I now had $15 left on the voucher.
The kid then came over to me and shook my hand and expressed deep gratitude and I said, “Look, I’ve been homeless for a couple years and people treat me good and put me up. So it’s a repayment of sorts. Guys like us have dark days ahead and we gotta lookout.”
He thanked me again and then sat down and opened up an old paperback book on MK-Ultra experiments and got to reading with a furious fixation I found refreshing.
Sounds like a next generation crackpot in the making.
All he needs is some combat skills.
I do remember times like these except I was either on the Flea Bag bus or hitching. I was sometimes so confused about where I was going that I'd cross the freeway to head the other way. Hitch from Nashville to Mobile and just turn around. Meet mostly cool people and only a few frigging certified weirdos.
In our state and by the standards of the state we're technically homeless. I've been 'technically' homeless since 2010. They say if you go five years you'll never get back. Where is back? The longest we can stay anywhere is 6 months and then we have to leave for a week. You can't garden, have a lawn, a provable address which screws us constantly.
We're still in the cow pasture, 12 miles from home, with no transportation as we had a blown head gasket. I rounded up all the parts needed, laid out 42 bucks for the manual, and my mechanic opened the hood 2 weeks ago and has sprayed stuff on the bolts to loosen them. He's a moody one eyed former Viet Nam era Marine sniper, very cool guy but....we're still sitting here by a stream, in a flood plain, waiting for rain.
As much as we wanted to see you it would have been sad to have you come and get evac'd to a place with no phone, no transportation now, and very little internet. Even our food supply has been interdicted but Viv is such a food pusher there was tons extra.
Nice of you to help that dude out. He sounds like quite a few guys up here except these guys are heavily armed. Glad to hear from you. My experiences on the road were much the same as yours. Mostly good people with pretty open minds, people that previously you wouldn't have imagined would. Keep on shining!
Good luck with the RV, Ruben.
Hope to see you next time through California
Hey Ruben, in case you come back and check this post:
twitter has been systematically shutting down any discussion of the election, including videos of poll workers marking ballots, statements from postal workers instructed to backdate ballots, the UN warning signs of unfair elections which have been clearly violated, and mathematical tools used in forensic accounting used to show fraud in foreign elections. Goalposts have moved from "election fraud is virtually non-existent" to "all elections have fraud."
Trump doesn't show any signs of conceding, there are court actions underway in a half dozen or so states, spontaneous rallies all over the place and Trump to start up rallies again as well.
Biden is being counseled by DICK CHENEY and military industrial stocks have JUMPED. MITT ROMNEY said to be considered for chief of health and human services, he pioneered a version of Obamacare in Mass, doncha know?
Many news outlets are reporting that corona dangers have been overestimated, and Pfiᴢer announced a 90% effective vaϲϲine, news they sat on for weeks to avoid helping Trump.
Haaretz is decrying the damage done to the middle east by Trump, apparently they forgot all about the myriad diplomatic breakthroughs of the past year, and are thrilled for the architects of ISIS to return to the White House.
WOW, great job leftist voters!