Day 2 - Cincinnati OH

Well, I must begin by summarizing yesterday evening. Got pulled over ten minutes into Ohio. Speeding ticket. I'm indifferent and unaffected by it.

Arrived in West Chester, OH at a reunion get together at Kelsey's house (about 11:30). She's part of Paul's old Young Life work crew. Everyone who came knew each other, but it's cool because I didn't feel at all excluded or anything.

Special thanks before I forget: I appreciated you being a temporary part of our trip, Megan Clapp. Have fun returning to Pittsburgh.

During our adventure to Ikea, Paul left his camera somewhere in that giant store (the same one in which I obliviously walked into the women's facilities). God is good because when we went back, Megan asked an employee if they found a camera and he said that they had, in fact, found Paul's camera.

Lots of hanging out with people and food and fun today. The climax was an ice skating extravaganza in the square/downtown of Cincinnati. I didn't want to spend more money (nor did I have a strong urge to ice skate), so I decided to take a walk around town, partially hoping to meet someone cool and partially hoping to find a cool coffee shop (I don't even like coffee) at which to do some reading. Never found the cafe I was looking for, but ran into some transparent people.

I never got the first guy's name, but he was sitting under a Brazilian restaurant's awning. I had seen him sitting there when we originally rolled into town. We didn't talk long because he was in a rush to get to his friend's house to get a shower. He accredited his blessings to God's grace which was pretty refreshing. So I got up from there and started venturing more. DJ called me and said Paul and Ally were looking for me. Concerned that they were worried at my wandering off, I started walking back downtown. I was a block from the ice skating rink when a scruffy six-foot man approached me in his crooked black beanie.

Shifting in and out of eye contact, spoken with a tell-tale tone of shame: "Hi, excuse me, my name is Gene I was raised a Baptist went to Baptist church moved here went to Crossroads Jesus Christ is my Savior in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths I was abused as a child both me and my sister were abused"

I cut off his soliciting run-on sentence, saying, "You don't have to justify anything to me, bro. Just tell me what you need."

"I'm just looking for a sandwich or something. I haven't eaten in a day and a half."

Eager to hear his story: "Are there any places around here? I would love to sit and talk with you over food."

"There's a place three blocks up the road toward the shelter where I have to grab my bags and get on the bus in time to visit my sister." At this point I became skeptical of his immediacy and intentions, so I told him that if he wanted to travel that far down the street (there were a few restaurants on our block anyways), that I would have to find my friend Paul to come with us. He asked if I could even spare a quarter, and I said no, I would like to provide the service and I don't believe in tossing out money arbitrarily to feel good about myself. I asked Gene if I could pray with him, and he was quite thankful for it. I saw a deep feeling of disconnect in his eyes. He said he felt weak and was not used to having to beg. He likes to be able to support himself. I told him that simply reveals his strength, that God created us to be dependent on each other and that only true men with true strength can bring themselves to being willing to rely on others. It's a shame that he has to create stories to scam people that he doesn't want to scam simply for a meal.

I walked back to the skating rink and met up with Paul, who had not been worried. He just wanted to know where I was so he could join me cuz he decided not to ice skate. We walked on the opposite end of town. Came across a cute ice cream and candy/baked goods shop. Then we came across Richard. He was sitting on a red milk crate with a giant jacket (the hood sticking out a foot over the top of his face), holding a cardboard sign that I didn't really read about his needing help. Paul and I took a seat on the sidewalk next to him and we asked if he liked it here. His first words: "I hate Cincinnati." Accepting the offer for food was done without hesitation. He said there was a pizza place around the corner. Megan had given me ten dollars earlier, saying to use it if I encountered an appropriate opportunity to do so. I told Richard to order anything up to ten dollars (even after insisting on buying more multiple times, he only ordered a slice of white pizza).

Our order was up quickly and we made conversation with Richard about where he was from (Charlotte) and how long he'd been in Cincinnati (6 years: 4 with family, 2 at a shelter, 6 months in the street). I like having someone around when I am with strangers, especially Paul, because you can't always be perfectly consistent in creating conversation. Where I was stuck in loving this guy, Paul filled the gaps. Where Paul was stuck, I tried to do the same.

Paul asked Richard how often someone offered him food. "Maybe once a week. Some people turn it down, but I never turn it down. You have no idea. It's fine by me."

Apparently people actually never eat with Richard. They buy him food, when they do, and then leave immediately. Laughing, he said I asked a lot of questions and talked more than anyone before. I was probably like an obnoxious child.

I thought houseless guys would always want to share their story, like Gene, but Richard's answers to my nagging questions were quite vague. I asked why his fmaily kicked him out and he said, "cuz of my mouth. I don't curse, but I tell em like it is." I asked him why he was expelled from the shelter. "Cuz of my mouth."

"Is there anything you can do to use your brutal honesty for good? Can you change the way you use your mouth for a positive change?"

Richard thought for a few seconds but replied with a straightforward "no."

As Paul was discussing college football with Richard, another much larger man stumbled toward us. "Gentlemen! I got what you're looking for."

Anticipating a pizza-shop scam, but still wanting to demonstrate some Jesus-affiliated love, I asked for his name. "My name is Rock," he claimed, flashing a gold tooth and x-shaped scar on his neck as Richard slipped back out with some impersonal goodbyes to hit the streets again for loose change of passersby.

After some thug-hand-shake greetings, Rock sat down at our table and presented a slightly used bottle of expensive cologne without a cap. He also displayed a stuffed dog. "Now fellas, I know I've been doing a little drinking; but this is $70 cologne, and I'll give it to you for $12. Smell me, just smell me. If you were ladies, you would want this, now, wouldn't you? And this dog, only $7. No, $6."

I cut him off, trying to shift conversation, "Where are you from, Rock?"

"Detroit"
"What are you doing down here?"
"Traveling. I have a vendor's license," he said, presenting a random visa card from Kentucky, with the name Emmanuel. I asked his name again and he gave me the name on the card, also presenting another card with that name, a driver's license from Ohio. I believed that this was him at this point. He put the messy pile of documents back into one of his 92735 beige jacket pockets. Paul asked Rock if he knew what Emmanuel meant, and Rock claimed that it meant "God with us" because God has always been with him yada yada yada....

"We're traveling too, Rock. We're going around the country. You have any tips for us?"
"Man, I'm just here to visit my boys. I have three boys here. They got a great mama and I wanna stay involved with their lives. You guys smoke, I also got some cigarettes...."
Paul said he didn't smoke and I said I never had but that I've considered the thought of maybe one day trying a pipe because they smell so good. I told him that we weren't interested in his products. He kept playfully forcing the cologne and stuffed animal at us, mainly me because Paul already said he had a girlfriend. I had told him that I was single and might need a little help picking up the ladies. He knew that I was just egging him on, but he tried anyway, putting the dog on my arm and leaning closer into me to make me smell the over-applied aroma.

Finally I was trying to fend off Rock's offers, and he said that between me and Paul, I was the "aggressor." He accused us of merely wanting to talk and I asked him if there was something wrong with that. I told him that I liked people and just wanted to meet him.

"Yes, but I don't just talk for free. You owe me $2."

Refusing to pay, I asked him why I should give him money that he would spend on alcohol anyway. "Because giving money is how we get our blessings."

"Do you believe that we're supposed to buy God's good will?" asked Paul.

"If I give you this dollar now," Rock/Emmanuel explained, "then later I might walk on the street and someone will hand me $1000."

When we left the shop, Rock chased us down the block yelling at us to return his gold chain. We had no idea what he was talking about, so he turned around after a few failed attempts.

Later that night I saw Gene again. He grabbed my hand, shook it with meaning, and thanked me.

I'm going to sleep now and wake up in three hours to drive to St. Louis. We'll drive another few hours from there to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.