I had to pee early. Really pee. My only option was the 24-hour Whataburger restaurant, a rather new-looking structure that looked more like a restaurant than a fast-food joint: it had an upstairs and a deck and seated over 200 people. When I walked inside at 4:45am, though, the only people in the lobby were two other people, one who left shortly after I sat down, and another man, who looked homeless but who wore clean white socks and was otherwise, besides his tan, clean-looking. His thick heavy grey-brown beard was his only give-away that perhaps he wasn't of the corporate type. He sat a few tables away from me sipping a soda, then sat across from me and stared at me. I avoided his gaze and expected him to start talking to me, asking me for money. He sensed that I was avoiding him, and went back to his old spot.
He must be a well-known homeless man because the manager told him to leave. He did so without complaint, but then walked right back inside a few minutes later. "You have to leave now!" said Belinda, the 30-ish employee, "the manager wants you out now!" I was expecting an altercation, but the homeless man quietly, without any reply, left. I had to think of my brother Thomas while watching this man, wondering how often he endures behavior like this on a daily basis. He's been homeless for over 22 years--a lifestyle choice-- and the citizens of Dallas know him as an icon. He doesn't beg off of others, but spends instead his free time at the public library reading everything he can.
Belinda and another customer talked briefly about the upcoming Spring Break due to start in two weeks. "Oh, this place is a riot!" said Belinda, referring to both the inebriated college students and the late-night bar drinkers. "This place at 2am gets so busy when the bars close. We are hiring new help now." I am glad I passed through town, South Texas in general, before Spring Break. I probably would not have had such a pleasant experience. The only place I went to while on spring break was Omaha, NE. Who goes to Omaha while on spring break? And who stays sober while on spring break?!
He must be a well-known homeless man because the manager told him to leave. He did so without complaint, but then walked right back inside a few minutes later. "You have to leave now!" said Belinda, the 30-ish employee, "the manager wants you out now!" I was expecting an altercation, but the homeless man quietly, without any reply, left. I had to think of my brother Thomas while watching this man, wondering how often he endures behavior like this on a daily basis. He's been homeless for over 22 years--a lifestyle choice-- and the citizens of Dallas know him as an icon. He doesn't beg off of others, but spends instead his free time at the public library reading everything he can.
Belinda and another customer talked briefly about the upcoming Spring Break due to start in two weeks. "Oh, this place is a riot!" said Belinda, referring to both the inebriated college students and the late-night bar drinkers. "This place at 2am gets so busy when the bars close. We are hiring new help now." I am glad I passed through town, South Texas in general, before Spring Break. I probably would not have had such a pleasant experience. The only place I went to while on spring break was Omaha, NE. Who goes to Omaha while on spring break? And who stays sober while on spring break?!
I spent the next two hours in a public parking lot off the Holiday Inn to watch the sun rise, the first time all week I've been able to see it clearly. I had a view of the eastern Corpus Christi Bay, with a Padre Island highrise in the distance. At 6:45am the seagulls woke up to the first sun ray, and thus began the day's avian beach choir of hungry sea gulls and pelicans waiting for free handouts.
It's colder this morning than it was yesterdayy. The radio news said it was in the upper 40s. I believe it.
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