Life And Whines of David Appelman

Today during lunch Chris and I grabbed some Chinese food, and it was glorious. As I was dropping him off we saw what we assumed was a homeless person in a red beanie. After I dropped Chris off he stopped me and asked me if I could point the way to Atlantic, I did so. He thanked me and I started driving away leaving him to walk a couple miles to Atlantic. He seemed like a nice guy so I turned around and offered him a ride, he graciously accepted. He introduced himself told me his name was Ross and he just walked out on his boss, and jokingly asked if I need any construction done.

Evidently he was asking his employer if he could be paid on the books rather than off, you see Ross is hard pressed to find work. He has been doing construction, painting, E.T.C. for this guy for some months now. Every day when he is done with his 6 to 9 hours of work he gets handed a 20 dollar bill. Ross has been trying to find more work to support himself but he does not have any recent job references because officially he has no job. This man is working extremely hard and earns 20 dollars a day. He makes anywhere from 2.22 to 3.33 bucks an hour depending on the day. If he gets to work 7 days in a week he will make 140 bucks that is 560 a month that is 6720 dollars a year. And that is only if he gets a job every day working 6-9 hours a day.

So back to him walking out on his boss, you see Ross wants to be paid on books so he can have some sort of job reference and his boss refuses to pay him minimum wage. Ross is unable to find work, nobody wants to hire him because he is homeless. He was clean, smelled good, and was entirely sober. He spoke well, was nice, and not once did he ask me for anything but directions and work. So i gave him a ride to Atlantic which was on the way for me any ways and gave him the rest of my Chinese food before he left. He refused at first and when he finally accepted he did not ask what it was, he did not ask me for anything else he was just legitimately grateful to be getting some warm tofu. More than anything though Ross seemed glad that I treated like a human being. I wish there was something more I could have done for Ross. I wish I knew which direction to point him in, I mean he is willing to work he just does not have the opportunity.

I read somewhere once that the average duration of homelessness was four month, but I have to wonder how the hell somebody gets out of the situation Ross is in. He makes enough money to eat, but that is about it. I wish you the best of luck Ross, and hope you find a way to stay warm tonight. As for Ross’s boss you suck, treat people like people. I mean I get that you want to make an extra buck I really do, but that can not be at the expense of another human being.