It’s rough out there.
In August of 2018 Trina and I started preparing sack lunches and distributed them to the homeless on Los Angeles’ skid row. It’s a small operation with me buying supplies from local shops and assembling the lunch sacks at home in our kitchen.
Our first distribution was twenty lunch sacks and canned soft drinks. We loaded them into the back of the SUV and headed downtown. We observed a sea of homeless people all over blocks and blocks of downtown. We completely underestimated the amount of need and the size of the problem.
We knew that we needed to do more but knew that we could never do enough. With the generous financial assistance from Reverend Tom Shriver and the good folks at Emmanuel Assembly of God Church in Arcadia we were able to expand our outreach greatly.
We set out today with our sixty sacks and soft drinks and water and made our way to 6th and San Pedro, right in front of the Midnight Mission. One would think that with all of the resources provided to the homeless by the mission, the area in front of the mission would be a tad bit more tranquil than other areas of the row. Nope. It’s the wild west at it’s best. It is unimaginable how all this is allowed to continue to exist. The city of Los Angeles has (reportedly) spent millions of dollars on the problem of homelessness but I can’t say it was money well spent.
DIdn’t see that coming.
We pull to the curb and open the rear of the SUV. Immediately a group of folks gather and I get them to form a line and begin handing out the lunch bags and sodas. You have to be on your toes and try to establish control immediately as things happen fast and you are interfacing with desperate people some of whom may be dealing with mental illness. Everyone is orderly and appreciative.
The line is about twenty-five people long and as I’m passing out the lunches I hear some commotion in the middle of the line and look up to see a disheveled middle-age white woman feverishly ranting about how she grew all the food or some other nonsense. Trina and I were busy handing out lunches to the person at the front of the line. Often the person may request a different type of drink or request another lunch for a person unable to get in line.
As I was giving out a sack to a black lady at the front of the line who looked like she was ready for anything, The lady that had been making all the noise stepped out of line and approached the front of the line and initiated a brief, very brief conversation with the black woman. I don’t know what they were talking about , but before I could say “Pepsi or Sprite?”, that black lady back-handed that woman in the mouth and knocked her back on her butt right there in the street.
Trina and I were astonished. Everyone else in line didn’t even flinch. We quickly handed out the two or three remaining lunch bags and drinks and packed up and left.
As we were heading back home, we reflected on what had just transpired. Dang, she went through all that and didn’t even get a lunch sack.
It’s rough out there.