He has a girlfriend

The street person looks like a dissipated Santa Claus (DSC). He “lives” on a small island in the middle of traffic crossroads at Place Eaux Vives where a small chalet houses a news stand. On one side, under an overhang is a long wooden bench. DSC has stored his two shopping baskets filled with his treasures there, and they provide some privacy for him when he stretches out on his blankets to sleep.

During the cold weather he was often huddled there on and under blankets. Sometimes he leaves his baskets. I am not sure why the owner of the newsstand hasn’t had his stuff carted away when DSC isn’t there, but it hasn’t happened in the months that I have ridden past on the E bus.

No matter what the temperature, his pants are always cut off at his knees and his red legs only add to the Santa Claus image. I’ve never seen him with alcohol, but I have seen him sit there watching traffic with a smile. Sometimes he is in other parts of town without his shopping baskets.

Geneva does not have a lot of street people in compared to other major cities, but this isn’t why he stands out. He carries a sense of dignity within the small home he has established.

Today when I passed he was sitting with a woman with long gray straggly hair and poorly dressed. They were holding hands. It made me feel good.

The lyrics to a Christine Lavin song beat in my head.

I was standing on 6th Avenue at the corner of 53rd Street
Waiting for the bus
Token in my hand
Thinking about Dinner and what I would eat
That's when I saw him all dirty and ragged
Begging for nickles and dimes
I got on the bus
Rolled away
But one thing stayed in my mind.

He once was Somebodys Baby
Someone bounced him on her knee
Do you think she has any idea
What her little boy's grown up to be?

I was walking through riverside park
On a beautiful afternoon
Telling my neighbor about the vacation
I planned to be taking soon
That's when I saw her all dirty and ragged
Drinking a bottle of wine
I turned my head
Walked right on by
But one thing stayed in my mind.

She once was Somebodys Baby
Someone bounced her on his knee
Do you think he has any idea
What his little girl has turned out to be?

In the back of a checker cab stopped at a light
Heading toward Broadway
To see the latest critically acclaimed
Pulitzer Prize winning play
That's when I saw them outside the shelter
Forming a ragged line
We pulled away
I didn't look back
But one thought stayed in my mind.

They once were somebody's babies
But somewhere their lives went all wrong
Next time you see them don't think the worse
Why not try to think of this song?