Crazy Lady

I think this quote came from Billy, Come Home:

"...got lots of money from people who felt sorry for him or were afraid of his craziness."

I am feeling sorry for homeless individuals is motivation for lots of people to give to homeless people. I am reminded of Kathy who wore a filthy, shabby coat when panhandling. She said people felt sorry for her and she picked up a lot of spare change that way. I think, though, most people shied away from obviously crazy homeless people ~ even other homeless people.

When I was living on Elm Avenue, I cut through an alley either on my way to store or on the way back home. One day, I noticed a young man, sort of leaning in a doorway. He roused my suspicions. I was calculating how far away I was from my doorway, in case I needed to run. Suddenly the kid shouts out, "You're that crazy lady aren't you?"

I laughed, and said, "Yes, I am crazy, but I'm not that crazy lady." I no longer remember which homeless lady that crazy lady is. I often got mistaken for her while living on the streets. I so regret moving all my blog posts to disc, so that I can no longer look up information, such as who the slightly mentally ill woman is.