Katie

i made friends with a hitchhiker today at the park. i walked by at first, but, upon seeing her backpack, i was struck by curiousity and turned back wondering why on earth i was in a rush, if i wasn’t even in a rush? She was really young, just 25 years old, and her name is Katie. She said that she’s been hitchhiking for about 7 years, because college just wasn’t for her. Before she began hitchhiking, she used to get drunk every night because just going to school and going home and living a stagnant life didn’t make much sense to her. She likes knowing that she doesn’t ever know what will happen the next day, and that is very brave of her.

Katie is stuck in Savannah for a while, because her boyfriend tried stealing a sandwich from Wal-mart (which they both hate with a passion), and he doesn’t get released until the end of the month. She went on about how strange it was that we live in a country where rich art students dump half their dorms each year, and people who are struggling to get by can’t even dumpster dive because the dumpsters get locked. All the food goes to waste. Perfectly good food. Katie and her boyfriend were just hungry. She said she can’t get a job because employers judge her because of her tattoos.

i told her that i wanted to see her again, so she introduced me to Doug, who always knows where she is. Doug is a man at the park who makes flowers out of palm leaves. And one of his friends (or maybe his family?), Stephen, was telling me about how he makes things out of palm leaves because he needs to make money to feed his family. He basically told me that they have noodles everyday, that he’s not trying to complain, but it’d be nice to have something better. And it’s so weird, because i come to this fellowship building everyday, and there’s always food in the fridge. On top of that, i have a meal plan that will give me 18 meals a week, with a buffet style selection. Am i blessed, or am i just really secure?

SCAD doesn’t encourage us to talk to the homeless and panhandlers. But, why not? They are people, too. They’re like us, but without homes or jobs. In need of maybe someone to talk to, someone to acknowledge their existence. Katie had lots of scars on her legs and dirt on her feet. And scars always mean stories. She says she’s seen a lot of horrible things, but she still believes that love is better than hate. We all have a lot to learn from each other.

i pretty much invited her to go to Wild Goose festival next year because that’s how i met Joel who was hitchhiking at the time. Maybe she will meet other traveling folks. She wrote it down. i hope she remembers!