fuck this job.com

The bullhorn turns out to be held by a skinny man with dark hair and a beard, who’s standing among the fountains and concrete of Corporate Plaza talking about something called “Dignity Place.”

“If you would like to come out to Dignity Place, you’ll see that we have a well-run, clean and orderly village. It’s true there are tents—but we have proper sanitation facilities and we understand hygiene. This place is not a dump or a ‘hobo jungle’ or anything like that. The police are trying to shut Dignity Place down. There are people in this city who just don’t care about others. They want Dignity Place to disappear. But the people won’t disappear. They will be living in the streets again, just like they were before Dignity Place was born. If you want to contribute or volunteer, just talk to anyone handing out flyers. We’re going to need all the help we can get to keep Dignity Place alive!”

Simon has heard a lot of speakers at Corporate Plaza. It is a designated “free speech zone” where you can say anything and not be arrested. Free speech zones are becoming more and more common in the U.S.A., as well as “no free speech zones” where anyone who says the wrong thing is arrested.

A large black man is standing in front of Simon, holding a small stack of pamphlets about Dignity Place. Suddenly the man speaks to Simon.

“Would you like to volunteer?”

Simon is surprised. He was expecting to be asked for money. He finds that his mind is thinking “no” but his head is nodding up and down. He’s volunteering.

The man leads Simon over to the leader, who is putting the bullhorn into the back of a beat-up old Honda Accord.

“Simon, this is Josh. He’s our leader.” Josh shakes Simon’s hand. When Simon touches Josh’s hand, he feels an electrical current go up his arm and he pulls his hand away. Josh smiles at him.

“Sorry about that! My—you certainly are a big fellow!” Josh just keeps on looking Simon right in the eye. How can he think that Simon is big? Simon is chubby--but nobody would call him "big." Unless...

Can he see—it? Can this guy see the thing that Simon sees when he looks in a mirror? Josh takes the flyers from the people who come up to the car, bundles them with rubber bands and puts them into a cardboard box. Josh suddenly leans close to Simon.

“Simon—don’t worry, I won’t let on.”

Simon is baffled. Can this person see his “shadow” or what? When they all get into the two cars—one old Honda and an old Chrysler Newport—Simon gets in too. He just follows along without thinking. It’s fun. It’s fun to just let go.

They drive south to the edge of the city and off into the woods for a ways. Then they pull up next to what looks like some kind of sporting event or renaissance festival. It’s all tents and a few banners with people going about their business with a kind of natural ease. There is a sign attached to one of the few trailers sitting among the tents—Dignity Place.

Simon and his group go over to the trailer and a blonde-haired woman of about thirty opens the door and smiles broadly.

“Martha!” yells Josh. They gather around and take sandwiches that have been carefully wrapped in waxed paper. Josh chews a little and starts to talk. He seems to do that a lot.

“Just remember. Always remember that when you eat, this…” he holds up the sandwich, “…this is your own body, and this…” he holds up a cup of lemonade, “…this is your blood. You are what you eat. The most important lesson I can teach you is this—you are what you eat.” The people standing and eating nod gravely. Simon takes a sandwich and is surprised at how good it is. Somebody walks up to Josh and whispers in his ear.

“Peter and Tom at going into town to get some rice and beans. I’m looking for a couple of volunteers to help out.” Two men and a woman step up and then go off to get the food.” Then a man with red eyes walks slowly up to Josh and starts to cry. He wipes his nose with the sleeve of his sweater. Josh takes the man in his arms and holds him.

“Josh—I just found my uncle in his tent. He’s…gone. He’s passed on.”

Josh looks up and head off with the man to the tent. Simon follows him.

“Are you sure he’s gone? Are you certain?”

The man nods his head, weeping and walking behind Josh. In the tent, they find a man who looks so sick that Simon is inclined to think that he is dead. He doesn’t move. Not even breathing. Josh takes one look at him blurts out, “He’s not dead. He’s just asleep.” Then Josh pats him on the head and the old man opens his eyes.

The crying young man and Simon run into each other as they try to run out of the tent at the same time. Even though Simon wasn’t sure that the man was dead, the sight of his eyes opening absolutely terrified him. It had the same effect on the other man—the nephew. Josh bursts out laughing.

“Don’t be such cowards! He was just asleep, right my friend?” The old man looks around and seems perfectly healthy.

“Sure, Josh. I feel fine.”

Simon pulls himself up off of the ground and looks at what seems to be a miracle. Suddenly a crazy image pops into his head. He thinks of a line from a movie—the cartoon movie “Heavy Metal.”

“I can see why they made this guy their leader.”

(TO BE CONTINUED)