This is Billy Bob and the Consortium
Let’s Have a Conversation Today
Pete, These Folks Can Be Silly, Asking About Coffee
Good morning, guys, we have this morning unusual coffee, but it will all cost you this morning. Billy Bob, we can steal the coffee and run pretty far without spilling it and not answer your silly questions. Yeah, but you would still have to come back here tomorrow for more! Not fair, man. Sorry, Frankie, but you know we spend our morning talking so that them housed folks can get an insight into our world, you know, education.
Alright, we will play along, just hand over the coffee before we riot and throw you to the police this morning, friend. Easy folks, I am still the head of this little roughneck bunch, so coffee and treats, right? You did not say anything about treats, buddy! No, I was waiting, Frankie, now do I have your attention? Pete and I have been planning for a couple of hours. You two are dangerous when you are up and moving before dawn and on a mission. Sucks, Sally, it is so much fun, plotting and planning, and making up a situation for us today, makes life feel more normal. You two are an unusual pair, but the end result is food and even coffee, so I will put up with your antics! Thanks Bill.
Now let’s settle down and dig in, Pete has been busy since we got up early due to the emergency this morning. Thank you, Pete, for taking the time to get us food this morning. I do not know what I would do without food every day; it would just be too hard to deal with. You are welcome, Mike, I am grateful that the Lord has made provision with the Line Crossers and Rule Breakers that give us what they do each time I wander their way. Oh, it is food today, not just sweets, it is hardy stuff today, wow, thanks. No problems, Johnny Boy, it is rare to get the hardy food, but occasionally I am able to get us some blessings.
Okay, while you are eating, it is question and answer time for those folks who will be reading through this and cannot understand how and why we love coffee so much and talk about it all the time. Oh goodness, Pete, that is so easy, it tastes good, and it makes me like a human and not a homeless bum. Johnny Boy, what about you? Man, it is so simple, it is the only way to start the day, we don’t lose that when we get homeless, man. Sally, you are new, but what about you and coffee? It reminds me of life before, before the darkness set in and the life fell apart, kinda of lets me hope a little bit each morning.
Hey, it’s Billly Bob, we are just talking today, we are trying to connect with you folks who are still blessed to have homes. What is the first thing most of you do in the morning? You go straight to the coffee pot and get your legal fix. So many fail to remember that we are human and homeless, not merely homeless, and coffee helps us hold onto memories of our housed days. So, just journey with us for a little while longer and help us spread the understanding that it is humans trapped on the streets and not merely numbers.
Hey, how do we get coffee to the old ones, you know, all the grandparents, aunties, uncles that have lost their housing in the recent downturn of the economy? Those that are calling to keep streets, sidewalks clean make it hard to spread coffee cheer, but we will try. There is no way we can reach all of them; their numbers have grown so rapidly, but we can do what we do, and in that, we can make a difference. It is just not right that they are out here, you know what I mean? Mike, as usual, your heart is in the right place, we will work on it.
See, what people don’t realize is this, just because we are house-less, wanderers, vagabonds, bums, eyesores, or the like, we still need to eat; if we don’t, we tend to become problems. Why, you ask, because every body God creates needs, food to regulate all the functions dork. They say we are a problem or cause problems, what if they first asked if we had eaten recently, that would change so much. Johnny Boy, as always, you put your own spin on why we like our coffee and treats in the morning and why it is important, just the facts, thank you. Yeah, we just don’t spend $15.00 on a cup of Joe, we get it donated, secretly!
See in your homes, apartments, condos, and such, you have closets, pantries, shelves, cupboards, and the like that hold so much food it goes to rot before you use it. Out here, we cannot carry food, get food, or find food, we are not allowed in most stores, the police take away a lot of what we try and hold on to, and then it is just too hard to move around with it. Frankie, you sound a lot like Barb right now, that is about how she would have responded if someone had asked her about coffee in the morning. Well, at least I did not get mad and throw my coffee at you, like she did once or twice!
So, I guess it is easy to say that we will not be giving up our coffee any time soon. No, Pete, I think we would be in trouble; it not only makes us feel human for a bit of time, but it also helps us focus on what we have to do for the day. We do not sit around and cause trouble all day like people have been told we do. Sally, what is on your mind? I have a coffee shop real close to where I tuck away at night, is it okay if I see if they want to join the Line Crossing group and help us? That would be great, are you comfortable talking to them? Yes, they are friends from my before life and I think that they would like to help us. Great, keep us posted, okay. I will do that, they have great breakfast stuff on the go, we would all like it a lot.
Hello folks, Billy Bob and Bill here, it is not often that we talk to you about something so routine as coffee, but it helps y’all realize this, we are humans. I remember one of the first this I had to do for my serge in the army was coffee in the morning and if it was not made, watch out! Barb could react that way some mornings. Folks, I think we are just trying to connect and help you understand humanity exists on the streets, not merely lifeless numbers
Hey, hey, its me, Pete, don’t go yet, please understand, we don’t ever expect y’all to understand our plight, but we are just trying to break the thinking that sticks, that tells you folks in homes that we are a bunch of useless, wasted, goof for nothing numbers, coffee is a simple way to break that thinking, thanks guys.
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