I Want To Tell You A Quick Story

With as much time as I spend on the Metro, I run into a bunch of homeless people who come from nearly every street of Los Angeles. The Green Line goes from Downtown Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles. Many of these characters are of no significance but there is one who stands out for me.

I see one man who "squats" in front of a fabric factory every day. Throughout the night and into the morning, he sits on several paint buckets on the side of the building that hides the Sun. On my way home, around sunset, he sits on the opposite side with all his belongings again away from the Sun. He never takes off, he never changes spots. I noticed one day that his building is the only one on the entire street with no graffiti on it.

Those paint buckets that he sleeps on are given to him by the owner of the building. They let him "live" there and he paints over any tagging or graffiti. He takes good care of those grounds. I never see the graffiti but I always see the new patches of gray paint that cover it up. This man takes pride in his work.

I see a homeless man who may have been left with nothing but he still feels efficient in a way. I think Los Angeles needs to see more of this mutualism.

That's it.
Thank You.