Superman's Folly...or Deep into Construction Without Any Tools
In 1977 when I moved to Toronto to attend school, I was about as green as they come. I could count on one hand the number of times I'd been in a big city. I'd never seen real poverty. Homeless people had not registered on my radar screen. Drug and alcohol addiction? In my experience the worst it got was the time my best friend Ellen - with white dress and very green face - spent prom night on the front lawn of our school throwing up from too much lemon gin.
It was Day Two in Toronto that my brain was really thrown into a tail-spin. I had been wandering along Yonge Street taking in the sights when I came to a phone booth near the corner of Yonge and Gerrard. There, lying on the pavement half in and half out of the booth, was an old man. Maybe he wasn't so terribly old, although with his wild head of graying hair he must have been in his 50s at least. He had certainly seen hard times...his coat was worn and his sandals showed off the dirtiest feet I have ever seen.
I couldn't tell if this man was dead or had just fainted, but obviously there was something very wrong with him. He needed a doctor. So why were people walking right past him as if he were invisible? My brain had no reference point to explain this behavior.
I tried to stop people on the street. "Please, we've got to help this man!" Some people didn't even acknowledge me. Some people looked over at him and back at me with an expression that said, "Are you nuts??" One person just laughed and shook his head. I was getting more and more panicky. I tried to get to the phone to call for help, but the man's body was blocking my way.
At this point I was just about in tears. An older woman saw my agitation and must have figured out that I was from 'away'. She explained that the man was sleeping off a drinking binge and would be OK in a few hours. "Best just let him be, dear," she said kindly.
I wandered back to my residence in a bit of a daze, not sure what to think. I had entered a brave new world without the sort of toolkit it appeared one needed here.
In the days to come, I would take a few homeless people out for coffee...my way of trying to comprehend something of their lives. My endeavor wasn't terribly successful however. But that is a story for another time.
4:40:55 PM 
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