Hobo Handbook: Memoirs of a Homeless Poet in New York (Excerpt #7)

THE HOBO HANDBOOK: MEMOIRS OF A HOMELESS POET IN NEW YORK

                                      By Daniel Canada a.k.a Obsidian c. 2010

 

 

 

Surprisingly, one of the best sources of information about soup kitchens comes from other homeless individuals, standing on any soup line, at any given time. If you listen out carefully, from time to time you’ll hear someone discussing, or even gush out loud, about a hot new soup kitchen they just discovered. 

Look! There’s more than enough food to go around. So, there’s no need for anyone to be all clandestine and attempt to conceal a new grub spot. If you’re savvy enough, you can go onto the internet at any public library and look up the number of soup kitchens available, in which they have listed. I did, and I’m not all that smart either.

The point being, there’s no such thing as a hungry, homeless, person in America, especially in the big U.S. cities. In addition, there are so many soup kitchens operating around town, that unless you’re on a self-imposed, Mahatma Gandhi hunger strike, there’s no reason for you to go hungry simply because you’re homeless.

 

THE POWER OF THE NAPKIN

They say the pen’s mightier than the sword, but not much has been written, if you will, about the power of the napkin.

Out here, the napkin rules supreme!

 

You might be wondering how in the hell can a common item, such as a napkin be of such importance. I was surprised how much I had to rely upon this little piece of paper, on a daily basis, just to get by.

It seems I have to explain and provide a little history.