My Friend Greg

Greg really isn't his real name, but he's a really shy guy and I don't want to embarrass him. He's a really nice guy as well. He goes out of his way when he sees Erie Crackhead just to say, "Hi!"

Yeah, he's special.

I had mentioned his unfortunate run in with the Erie police a few weeks back. I finally found out how the whole thing turned out for him. As it turns out, things turned out alright.

He had a hearing before the area District Justice.

Before that hearing a few letters were sent to people in positions that needed to be made aware of Greg's treatment by our men in blue. Greg's counselor and doc at the VA Hospital relayed his unfortunate experience, in language and terms understood by those in positions of responsibility.

They relayed that Greg was a responsible individual, who unfortunately has a disability. They also relayed the fact that Greg was neither an alcoholic or drug abuser. These people also described the abuse and ridicule Greg was subjected to while in the care of our police.

I would hope that their treatment of Greg's situation wasn't special and would be extended to anyone caught in the same web that Greg found himself. I also hope that this type of concern for all Vets isn't just limited to the fine people who work at the Erie, PA facility.

But, then again Greg is special and so is the staff at Erie's VA Hospital.

The day came for Greg's hearing on the charge of public intoxication. He arrived at the District Justice's offices with his counselor, his doc and a VA attorney. The only thing missing was the arresting officer. Apparently the powers to be saw their error and thought better of causing embarrassment to the police department.

The charges were dropped.

Greg was given the opportunity to tell his story to the justice. His support team also reinforced Greg's story as well. All this was unnecessary from a legal point of view, as nothing further could be done with the charge. But it was heartening to hear Greg tell of the justice's reaction to the whole mess.

The District Justice was royally pissed off.

As a result, more letters were written to the Mayor and Chief of Police.

So there's a happy ending to this.

One thing to note.

People with disabilities often don't look for special treatment. In many respects they want to be treated the same as anyone else. Many don't even consider their disabilities a disability. But at the same time, busting someones balls because they may walk funny or talk funny, in your opinion, is just plain wrong.

Especially if that person is a Vet. I know at least one who has friends in high places. I know why he has those friends as well.

Like I said, he's special.

Shit, I did it again.

OK...off the soapbox.

Staying in the background.

I don't try to draw attention to myself. Staying in the background is more comfortable and is less risky than being the center of attention.

There are people who thrive on the spotlight, however dim and regardless of situation or circumstances. This is something that is a mystery to me, as making yourself stand out is also a recipe for trouble.

At least that is what experience has taught me.

Sometimes people have things in their background that are used against them. When they try to achieve some goal, regardless of the difficulty, there is always someone there who pulls skeletons out of the closet. The focus then is diverted from whatever good is trying to be achieved, or indeed has been achieved to other unrelated short comings.

Which brings me to my problem.

I am the Erie Crackhead. While I have been extolling the virtues of my hometown to those who follow this blog, I have come upon surmountable problems as well. Surmountable problems in that the solutions to ills in Erie are so evident that you would have to be blind to see them. yet, there must be a great many blinders being worn in this town.

I have run into this before. You see, when you're a crackhead your mind is certainly too fried to be able to understand the problem. So it stands to reason that you're most certainly incapable to develop a satisfactory solution to the situation.

I am not advocating that the problems of my hometown be turned over to crackheads, although there is a certain part of me that thinks that may be the present case. But when you look at the violence that has recently permeated this community, you have to wonder what is missing.

There is a vacuum here that has allowed certain negative elements to fill that void.

OK...I'm off of my soapbox.

Crackheads aren't allowed to get worked up over this type of stuff. If I even dared to mention a problem or a solution the first reply would be, "What does that wasted old crackhead know." I have encountered this before.

OH! I am going to ask an unrelated (sorta') question:
How many commercial movie theaters operate within the city limits (pop. approx 102,000) of Erie, PA.

I'll give you the answer in my next post.

Erie weather

Crackheads and homeless people hate the cold. Well, hating the cold is not exclusive to crack smokers and the homeless, but they probably have more to contend with in bad weather conditions.

I mean, have you ever heard of someone going out into a blizzard at 3 AM without proper clothes and trying to score a $20 piece? Most sensible people would be in bed, fast asleep without worry about risking life or limb due to extreme conditions.

I have to laugh, because one time I heard at a 12 step meeting that someone didn't show up because the weather was too nasty outside. Some blowhard oldtimers chimes in with the ," If he was looking to get a hit the weather wouldn't have stopped him."

I was sort of taken back by that and thought to myself that not going out into crappy weather was the smartest thing one could do for oneself. Was staying inside, warm and dry, a kind of telltale sign that a person was getting better?

Not to some people I guess. Which is also why they say, "Some are sicker than others."

Not Homeless..

That is a positive statement.

At the moment anyway, I am not homeless. Things are far from perfect, but at least I have a roof over my head. It could be far worse and there will always be room for improvement.

The other side of the coin is if you want to dance you gotta' pay the fiddler. have I written about this already?

Lemme' check.

Well yeah, I did.

The fact is that when my money came from my regular monthly check the first thing I did was get money put away for an apartment. That took a major chunk out of it.

That was a good thing. And that how us crackheads tend to do things. Get money spent on the necessities before you buy any dope. it's the way we work. The way we roll. The way we would like things to go at any rate.

You see, if we dilly dally around and don't get money put into the necessities, we won't have any money left at all. It doesn't take long for those green backs to disappear.

So the long and short of it all this this:
I did get the apartment security deposit and first month's rent paid. I did get a few necessary items so I could start cleaning the place and keep myself comfortable. I didn't save enough to get a new bus pass and I didn't save enough to put any food into the place.

As mentioned before, Erie is a hard place to go hungry. The downside is that it is starting to get cold out there and the walks to those places are going feel longer and longer as the mercury drops.

I just have to keep remembering all the positives to Erie as I take those walks.

The good thing is that shouldn't be too hard.