Sleeping on the Streets

This morning I got downtown a little after six. The sun was just peaking over the east mountains and casting long shadows across the city. I stopped by Walgreen’s to grab some orange juice and say hi to Ellie, my usual early morning cashier. All the tourists were recovering from the parties the night before. Well, almost all of them.

I looked over on the concrete and there was a guy there laid out and sleeping. He was clean cut, nicely dressed, and his luggage was sitting there next to him. I was really surprised that a big suitcase like that made it through the night without any protection.

Now, I’m used to folks sleeping on the concrete. After living in San Francisco, this is obviously nothing new to me. But it just seemed strange that such a normal looking well groomed guy was there on the street. Everyone just looked at him and walked by. I wanted to check on him, but you can’t take risks like that alone. I needed back up.

I ended up calling dispatch and asking them to send some medics over. I could tell this guy was breathing, but he was sleeping through an awful lot of sirens and cars zooming by him. Drunk? High on drugs?

Well, they finally got there and we woke him up. it took a little while to shake him out of it. They asked him his name and why he was sleeping on the street with his luggage. His answer?

” All I remember is leaving the club with this girl that I met last night. We were going back to her place.”

Ah, yes. Be sure to check for your wallet and welcome to Las Vegas.