It’s been a damp few days lately and my van was gathering moisture inside. The sun came out briefly, at times, and the rain stayed away today. So I went to a city park and opened the van up, in order to air it out and hopefully remove some of the water clinging to the ceiling. There was maybe a dozen other vehicles at the park, people either there to exercise or ones like me, who live in their autos. A few homeless folk were hanging out also, looking through the trash cans or wandering aimlessly like zombies.
I noticed one young man coming out of a bathroom. He was quite thin, walking very herky jerky. He would suddenly stop and aim with one hand, like he was shooting a gun. Other times, he would just stare at the sky. He would shout or mumble often, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Gradually, he made his way towards my van, where I was preparing some green tea and bouillon soup. He got 20 feet past and then suddenly stopped, turned to me, asked if I had a cigarette. Completely lucid, for that moment. I told him I don’t smoke, and he nodded and wandered on, continuing to pretend shoot at things. He got to the nearby street, put both hands in the air like someone was robbing him, and marched down the sidewalk. I’m not sure if he has a mental illness or was high on drugs. Maybe both.
I needed to pee after drinking the tea and soup, so I headed over to the bathroom that he had vacated. The toilet was full to the top with armfuls of toilet paper. Unusable. There was one other restroom and I went to use that one instead. The smell of smoke hit me immediately as I walked in. Someone had dumped out the trash can on the floor and set paper on fire. The fire was out, but the trash can was still laying on its side and some unburned trash was scattered around. But the toilet was useable, thank God. I picked up the mess and placed the garbage can back where it belonged.
I don’t know if the same guy made both messes. Doesn’t matter, because he won’t be held accountable. I’m a little worried that these bathrooms will be closed and locked permanently, like at some other city parks. Then a Portipot placed nearby, instead. Already, 4 of the six restrooms are kept locked at all times. It only takes a few instances like this to screw up things for everyone. This is why we can’t have nice things.
iggyvandweller 