As we get out of the theater, rain is pouring down. The streets of Edinburgh are beautiful, the play was nice and I’m staying with a good friend. We don’t really mind the torrential rain: right now, my friend and I are just blown away by the surreal atmosphere of the city’s cobbled streets. I’m also quite pleased because I booked a homeless kid into a hotel just before we went to see the play. So it might be pouring cats and dogs but for now, it’s just beautiful…
We’re heading back to my friend’s. The task is to get a taxi, engage in some friendly conversation with the driver, then get some Chinese food delivered when we get home and open a bottle of wine. Right where the kid had been sitting before there’s another homeless person. In fact, on our way to get a taxi we walk past four or five homeless men getting soaked by the rain. We’re lucky to grab a cab fairly quickly. I can’t look my friend in the eyes. She notices and puts her arm on my shoulder. I start crying for utter shame.
Out of defensiveness, I step in intellectual mode: but what’s wrong? The government pours tons of money into homelessness. The other day I even looked it up on Google: a city like Edinburgh has got lots and lots of initiatives. I want to understand. I’ve been in post-secondary education for nearly a decade for Fuck’s sake. What went wrong?
We make it home. I order ha-kao dumplings (possibly my favourite food ever). The wine is perfect. We cuddle up with blankets and have a girly chat until late into the night. My friend goes to bed while I struggle with the Rubik cube for a little longer. I can’t pray. I sort of toy with the idea of not sleeping either. But I just hide my head into my pillow, still feeling the shame, and, surely enough, I sleep like a baby.
We’re heading back to my friend’s. The task is to get a taxi, engage in some friendly conversation with the driver, then get some Chinese food delivered when we get home and open a bottle of wine. Right where the kid had been sitting before there’s another homeless person. In fact, on our way to get a taxi we walk past four or five homeless men getting soaked by the rain. We’re lucky to grab a cab fairly quickly. I can’t look my friend in the eyes. She notices and puts her arm on my shoulder. I start crying for utter shame.
Out of defensiveness, I step in intellectual mode: but what’s wrong? The government pours tons of money into homelessness. The other day I even looked it up on Google: a city like Edinburgh has got lots and lots of initiatives. I want to understand. I’ve been in post-secondary education for nearly a decade for Fuck’s sake. What went wrong?
We make it home. I order ha-kao dumplings (possibly my favourite food ever). The wine is perfect. We cuddle up with blankets and have a girly chat until late into the night. My friend goes to bed while I struggle with the Rubik cube for a little longer. I can’t pray. I sort of toy with the idea of not sleeping either. But I just hide my head into my pillow, still feeling the shame, and, surely enough, I sleep like a baby.
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