God or gods: The Choices of Men

He is out drinking every night, and every weekend he is at some fancy hotel with the prettiest girl he could find at the end of that night. So, are you like I was? Are you wondering what could possibly make a man like Lester acts the way he acts? Just be patient, I’ll answer that question after you have read about the other man in this compilation of stories.

Harold lives in an old run down apartment building in the middle of New York City. Every morning when he wakes up and begins to fix himself some breakfast he has to dump roaches out of his coffee maker and shoo rats out of his pantry were he keeps his cereal. He doesn’t have any clothes to change into, so he just wears the same ones from day to day, and his apartment doesn’t have any showers or a tub only a sink and a toilet; so he just wets some of the old oil rags that they throw out from time to time down at the garage. He has what looks to be a pair of shoes, but they have no bottoms in them, he only wears them so that people walking by will not feel sorry for him. I know, I know, you are wondering how a man can pay for food and an apartment and not be able to by clothes and a decent pair of shoes. He pays for the room and his food with the small amounts of change people toss at his feet as they walk by and he is sitting quietly on the corner.

Harold has no family, and he has never been able to find a job because he has been on the streets his entire life. He has never been to school or been able to even get a haircut. He has pretty much been alone since the very day that his parents left him under a bridge at the age of five. Ask any of the people who know about Harold and how long he has been on the streets and they will all say that they are not sure how he has been able to keep himself alive for all these years, but he has managed in some way. He never went to a shelter for the homeless except at the times when they gave out clothes; he only went then when he absolutely had to do so. Everyone says they feel so sorry for Harold and that’s why they give him money. But, should they really feel sorry for him.

Harold is a very happy man; if anyone were ever to really get to know him they would never hear him complain about anything that has ever happened to him. He loves his life, even though it may not seem like much to you and me. He spends hours out on the corner singing and preaching with a smile on his face. Even though most people just cover their ears and walk away while he is doing this, he always comes back. He is out there on the corner everyday but Sunday (on Sunday he is in the church down the street getting a "recharge " as he calls it) and always singing or preaching and sometimes handing out little pamphlets that he gets from the church. When he gets tired he sits, and people walk by and toss him a little bit of money. I told you before that nobody seems to understand how Harold was able to last being alone on the streets since he was five years old.