Still On My Busman’s Holiday

Tags: chaplan, Sluggo Security, goon, strikebuster, veterans shelter, homeless, homeless veterans, military, Department of Veterans Affairs, V.A., Veterans Administration, Westside, newsletter, God, busman's holiday, factotum, bum, vagabond, transient, hobo, tramp, Revver, marquisdejolie, jarvis


Interviewed at a hospital this morning. Maybe I can find something better than my current job of Sluggo Security goon.

When I came back to my veterans homeless shelter dorm room, there was a Department of Veteran Affairs envelop on my rented bunk bed.

Uh oh. I've done it now, I thought. Whatever "it" was, I probably did it.

Opened it up and it was a letter from the chaplan, typed on official letterhead. He wrote:

"Dear James, I loved the writing sample you gave me--the writing is among the very best I've seen in my 5.5 years of being at Westside and having vets share what they've written with me for the newsletter or just because they wanted to share.

You have a great eye for what is actually going on even in a most mundane setting such as Westside. You capture feelings of cynicism, idealism and deep sentiment, sexual longing, lonliness and disillusionment, and in the end an affirmation that you will go through what God wants you to go through . . ."

It goes on for several more paragraphs, but I don't want to bore you more. The important part is that I'm not in trouble here yet, that my bedding hasn't been pulled and my clothes haven't been bundled up and thrown in storage like has happened to a lot of other misfits around here.

My writing has gotten me kicked out of a country, a university and from my favorite bar. I hope it doesn't get me kicked out of here . . . yet. In a few weeks, maybe, when my busman's holiday is over.