The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman includes an entire chapter devoted to hobo matters. It's quite humorous. If you've never heard of John Hogman, "He's a PC". Anyways, until Friday, that was as close as I had ever came to a hobo.

Friday after work I helped a friend with a two car, one driver problem, and I ended up not having time to make it to my house before I needed to be leaving my house. The wife and I were headed to Durham with a bunch of friends to celebrate a couple birthdays. I was between my house and Durham. So, I thought it pointless to drive east just so I could drive back west. This left me waiting to be picked up at Ridgewood shopping center on Wade Ave.

Also, hanging out at Ridgewood shopping center were Dustin, Hannah, and Tom. I met Dustin as he was standing at the entrance to the shopping center holding a sign. The sign said something like Traveling, Hungry, Vegan. I saw him as I drove in and I felt compelled to go talk to him. I mean, I didn't have anything else to do, except wait.

It turns out that Dustin and his two friends were traveling back from Elizabeth City. They were headed back to Greensboro. Dustin's girlfriend, Hannah, and her family recently moved to Greensboro from Las Vegas. He decided to follow along. Hannah is seventeen and Dustin is eightteen.

I asked Dustin what the point of him standing by the entrance with his sign. He said he was just looking for a few folks to "throw down" a couple bucks so that he could get some vegetables. I told him I had time and money. So, if he wanted, we could head over to the Whole Foods. He was down, so we headed for the market. I guess this is as good a time as any to let you know that Dustin may have been the most unique looking individual I have ever talked to. I would try to paint you a picture, but it most likely would not do him justice.

I had only been to that store once, and as we walked in, I said, "this place seems fancy." He mentioned that he didn't care that much for the place1, but appreciated me hooking him up. He told me stuff about how much food places like that throw out each day because it is passed its sale by date. He started picking up various fruits and vegetables. I told him to get as much as he want bcause if I didn't spend the money on him, I would end up wasting it on myself. This led to a discussion about my questioning my consumption and that of America at large. A sentiment we shared.

While we waited in line we talked more about consumption. We talked about the issue of people in the world not having clean water, while we buy billions of dollars of bottled water each year. He made a statement that I have not confirmed, yet, but it sounded plausable. He said the Dasani, a Coke product, is bottled in India, a country with tons of people without clean drinking water. I bought his food, and it ended up only costing us $3.26. The lady at the register gave us a peach for free because it wouldn't ring up correctly.

Once outside, we sat with Hannah and Tom. We talked about random things. They asked what I did. I asked what they did. Come to find out, they don't do much. They just sort of travel around. I asked them if they always hitch-hike. They said, no, sometimes we hop trains.

I thought...
So, you're telling me that you just travel around hitch-hiking and hopping trains. You guys are hobos. Real live, in the flesh hobos.

I was unaware that hobos existed outside of novels, movies, and John Hodgman's book. These three, though oddly dressed, were just normal people; What ever that means. I wish they lived here in Raleigh. It would be great to get to know them better. maybe our paths will cross again. Until then, I wish them the best of luck in their travels.

This went long. Personally, I don't like long posts on blogs. I rarely read them. So, thanks if you stuck it out to the end. If you just gave up and skimmed to the bottom. No hard feelings.

1. You wouldn't look at Dustin and think, "this dude is into fancy places."

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