  Tonight I was really bored. I had nothing to do. All my friends were either working or too far away to hang out. I was feeling like I couldn't sit still. I was so bored, that I actually went to school and filtered a product of a reaction I did yesterday. This was at 10.
I stayed at school till 11. Then I drove downtown. I went into the Spot and got a Cocoamocha for free (I had a certificate for a free one). Then I went outside on the deck to read Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. Within about 10 minutes of my sitting, this black man in a wheelchair wheeled up next to me and said, "My man, put your head up, I know you saw me.
" So I did. wheels: "Could you spare a dollar for me? " Me: What do you need a dollar for? W: to buy a beer Me: A beer? What do you need a beer for? W: it helps me sleep.
Now, this was the first time that a beggar was honest about what he was going to spend his money on...Booze. I found that admirable, but I continued to question him. The man was missing two front teeth and unshaven. Despite his physical appearance, he was quite articulate. We continued to talk, and he told me how he wound up in the wheel chair. He claimed he had osteodystrophy.
At first I didn't believe him. Then he explained what it was. Then he lifted up his shirt and showed me his belly with a huge vertical scar that started at the bottom of his ribcage and went down a few inches below his navel. His stomach looked like it was trying to bust out his gut. At some point during the beginning of the conversation, I pulled out the copy of the Bible I had in my backpack, just to let him know that I meant business. He saw it and began explaining how it was a miracle that he was alive, because he had been shot in the aorta and was in a coma for two months.
I didn't quite believe him, but then he showed me the bullet holes that were still oozing with pus. Some stranger walked by and gave the man a half opened bottle of Budweiser. He took it and drank as we talked. I told him he wouldn't need my money now, because now he had his beer. We continued to talk, for about 30 minutes. His name was Kevin.
He told me a lot of things, some of them perhaps lies, but it was an interesting conversation. He told me of his crackhead girlfriend who he was unable to have sex with since his accident. He told me that he went to Buff state for two years and studied management. He told me he was thinking about going back to school. He told me that he wasn't sure if he had his pancreas or not (he couldn't understand his doctor's Indian accent). The only thing that I really am sure of about this guy is that he had been shot, because the wounds were definitely real.
So was the brace he had around his stomach, holding his guts in place (His abdomen was a giant hernia from the surgery). He said he was a religious man. It was one of the most interesting conversations I ever had, whether or not it was completely true or what. He actually was the one who got sick of me, saying he had to go. He said, "Ok man, I gotta get going. You're not going to give me my dollar are you?
" I gave him two, because I told him he had earned it. Then HE told me to never do drugs. I told him the same, and I made him swear on the Bible that he never would. "I swear on the Bible that I will try my best to make the best out of my life from now on and not do drugs. " Usually I never talk to beggars, I just tell them no, but tonight I am glad that I talked to this dude, because he made my night. I think I am going to carry the Bible with me where ever I go.
I think it keeps the beggars honest. 
