[Occ]upy North Tce

I have just left the Casino in a hurry. As I walk, I think about what I will do with the money I have won. I don't need it. I have no debts. I have everything I need and want. I have a savings account that I am committed to but I don't even want anything. I shrug my shoulders and continue to walk.

As I walk, my thoughts progress from what I will do with the money to getting organised for work on Monday. I walk past Central Station arcade and can hear a commotion. There is perhaps 99 people occupying the area out the front of Parliament House. My thoughts are interrupted by them and I stop to observe the commotion.

I look around and see that the same homeless man is still sleeping on one of the steps of Central Station entrance. He is young. He has no blanket and has used his bag as a pillow. I find it sad he has not even woken up with all this commotion going on around him and I just stare at him for a while.

The noise of the people protesting snaps me back from starting at the young homeless man. I turn to look at them again and I notice many have set up a little camp. They have chairs, blankets and jackets. I look back at the sleeping homeless man again. He is fast asleep. It doesn't look at all comfortable and I spend some time vaging out wondering how he manages to sleep.

A group of well-dressed men and women holding signs push past me. I step back and watch them walk over to where the other protestors are. One is talking on an IPhone. I watch them using their electronic gadgets to take photos of each other. Some have their face painted and they seem happy. One of them has a bag of fast food and I watch him get the burger out and unwrap it. I look back at the homeless man. I wonder if he has eaten?

I start to feel disgruntled and I turn my back on the protest and walk towards my car. I have to walk past the homeless man. I walk past slowly and examine him. He is still asleep, sound asleep. I look at the Security Guard who stands at the Casino North Tce entrance and I realise and he has been watching me or my facial expressions. He looks at me and I look at him. I follow his eyes as they look towards the protest and then down at the young homeless man. It almost felt as if we connected at that point and both of us thought the same thing without saying anything.

I shook my head and walked on. I felt angry because out of the estimated 99 people protesting, only one really needed to speak up and he was fast asleep. I forgot I had won a lot of money and by the time I remembered I was 2 blocks away from the young homeless man and I felt angry with myself for not waking him up and giving him some money.

My mood was about to get much worse. I saw a man pushing a trolley filled with empty bottles. He was bending into the bin pulling out a can. Beside him was a young child about the age of 10. They actually looked hungry and the child was not adequately dressed.

I drove home with tears in my eyes.

Worst still, I felt angry with myself that I did not have the courage to do what I wanted to do. I wanted to wake the young homeless man and give him some money. I wanted to walk up and give money to the man with the child collecting bottles out of bins. Why didn't I?

Because I was too scared to.

Why didn't I join the protest? I felt angry with them. I don't think any of them even noticed the homeless man sleeping on the step. They were all too busy sending messages on their phones or using their laptops to tweet.

Go back tomorrow: Find the man. the child if possible. and do what it is you fear so much to do. You must do the right thing. The protesters with their gadgets didn't even see this man. They were to busy with their own greed. You saw what they did not. You saw the results. Hunger. Homeless. You saw what they could never see. They were to busy looking elsewhere. You were not. But fear drove you away. Not fear of helping but fear of those round about you that were unpredictable. Seek those who were in need out; If you do not find that person, then seek another. Do what is right, good, and just. But i suspect you will find that exact person.
This is one of the best threads I have read since hovering about ATS.
God Knows
DH

Originally posted by DavidsHope
Go back tomorrow: Find the man. the child if possible. and do what it is you fear so much to do. You must do the right thing. The protesters with their gadgets didn't even see this man. They were to busy with their own greed. You saw what they did not. You saw the results. Hunger. Homeless. You saw what they could never see. They were to busy looking elsewhere. You were not. But fear drove you away. Not fear of helping but fear of those round about you that were unpredictable. Seek those who were in need out; If you do not find that person, then seek another. Do what is right, good, and just. But i suspect you will find that exact person.
This is one of the best threads I have read since hovering about ATS.
God Knows
DH

Thank you so much.

I notice this kind of thing and I usually feel powerless. I go home and clean my fridge and chuck out food that I haven't eaten and I really feel it.

There are things I can do to be less powerless in these situations. I am learning.

x

I absolutely LOVE it! Flagged and I seldom flag; it's got to be good and original and grammatically clear to get a flag from me.

Though I'm not the type that would react the way the protagonist did in the story; it does help me get an insight into why others don't stop and help.

Keep up the good work. Writing is a craft and practice makes perfect. I have a long way to go before mine get as good as yours.

reply to post by Thurisaz


Wow! feelings of helplessness, sorrow and guilt really resonate strongly in your story, and I believe these are feelings common to many of us in context of people whom we observe are living on the edge. The juxtaposition between the relative opulence of the protesters and the homeless man is really riveting. Good story.;

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


thx but you know what is really funny? I went back and read something I had written years ago and you know what it featured? A homeless man.

That was in 2006 and I wrote about something similar. I reckon I might have a problem!!

thx for the feedback. I appreciate it.

reply to post by argentus


thx for your opinion. I never think of it as me being creative. I just bla it down on paper.

Thought I was there.................

Visually Perfect.


Star and Flag

reply to post by Thurisaz


An excellently written short story and one that was a pleasure to read ... well done !
I'll certainly enjoy reading future contributions from you.

On a side not ... I've never been lucky enough to walk away from the Adelaide Casino with any of their money so was pleased that you won, even if just in your story. :-)

reply to post by tauristercus


Thank you so much.

I dont live in Adelaide so when I go there, I go to all the big shops and Casino cos it is exciting. lol

Lot of homeless people living in the parklands and sleeping through out the city. I really noticed it last time I went.

very sad and next time I see someone going through a bin or sleeping on a step. I will just lie and say, "oh excuse me, you dropped this and help them out in an inconspicuous way"

even if they say, "no, I didn't!" I will wink and say "oh yes you did!"

reply to post by Thurisaz


Excellent!! S/F

Great story, S+F. This is probably the most realistic scenario. You certainly captured the atmosphere very well.

mwah thanks so much for your feedback.

xxx

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


reply to post by CherubBaby