December Rainstorm In Los Angeles
Risky compassion during Covid-19 pandemic
I have a friend who is an essential worker. He works nights delivering bread to grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, etc. It’s a demanding and dangerous job. Every then and again, he shares with me some of his experiences.
In the course of his work, the friend of mine was robbed, his delivery truck was stolen at gunpoint, you name it! I often hear also about people begging him for a piece of bread and the suffering of the homeless population in Downtown L.A. Their desperation is so tragic, at times, it’s numbing.
My friend is a bit weird. He doesn’t have much tolerance for human suffering. He’s trying to help the desperate here and there as much as he can.
There is one homeless family (a brother and sister) with whom he has developed somewhat of a relationship. They are normal, regular people down on their luck: no crime, drugs or alcohol involved.
They camp along his daily route and he exchanged a few words with them on occasion. With time, their relationship evolved. He tries to feed them, regularly. As the weather grew colder, my friend delivered warm clothing and blankets to the family as well.
“Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others.” Jasmin Mogahed
He tried to get them off the street, to find them some work that would bring them income and eventually housing. But no one would hire a person without a car in Los Angeles, leave alone someone who is homeless.
And then, a couple of days ago there was a massive rainstorm in Los Angeles. Over here, when it rains it pours! The rain was merciless. The night’s temperature in the low 40s.
As my friend passed by the family’s “dwelling”, the sister called him for help. Her brother lied in a puddle of water, unconscious. The evening before, they searched for a roof to escape the vicious rain. They found one. It was an apartment building and the manager chased them away, back into the rain… At the time my friend has seen them, they were both soaking wet, feverish, cold and hungry.
