taking snapshots

The following morning, I decided to take a much needed shower. I hadn't had one in days and I figured it was about time. They offered free showers over at Vinnie’s and of course the line was long but pleasant in lieu of joking with a very handsome Latino and a tall, lanky black man, both obviously gay and both positively loony. The Latino was extremely animated. A tweeker to be certain, but had runway model good looks. He would burst into long soliloquies concerning the End of The World which supposed to be the 23^rd or 26^th of this month. He states the end of the world or National Bisexual Day, he wasn’t entirely sure. Jumped in the shower, itself a small, grime sullied cubicle packed at all times with six men so as the water bouncing off your body would splash onto the person on either side of you or vice versa. The Latino was definitely eye candy nude. Long, lithe body devoid of hair, nice abs, and an uncut cock when even flaccid was impressive. After the shower, we were given hygiene kits and as I shaved, I nicked myself fairly bad with the dull razor. Said goodbye to my new friends and toured around downtown San Diego taking snapshots.

Took in lunch at Vinnies. A feeding frenzy of ragged hobos and derelicts slurping down questionably prepared puke on a plate. But, as the old saying goes, “If you are hungry enough, you’ll eat anything.”

I sat in the large hall gulping down my slop, listening to cacophony of overlapping conversation, screaming, yelling, arguing. The air thick with unwashed bodies, soiled clothing, and stale cooking grease. The dented tables and rickety chairs coated in oils and grime.

Again, long nights of bitter cold. The tweekers in the park were becoming downright arrogant. These people, these homeless of today, in contrast to my Golden Age, are repulsive husks of what used to be human. The have literally given up. No passion or ideals, with all hope lost. They are simple organisms of base consumption. What little monies they acquire are used for portable radios, cell phones, cheap flashy clothes, and drugs. Always drugs. It consumes them, surrounds them, it is their purpose. It goes farther than simple addiction, it has become the norm. A non-addict, such as myself, is looked down upon as a pariah, an oddity to despise.

So, I stay clear of them. I sleep alone in my little area. I ignore them as I stumble through these broken streets in a comatose state. A ver...