the library in my 'hood is right next to the courthouse and prison. there is a large park in between the library and these establishments, and all the homeless people chill there. there is sometimes a truck giving out food.

so i was in the library this afternoon. i sat down with issues of sojourners (barack obama's ideas on religion in america intrigued me, but i got bored fast) and bookmarks (is that the name of the magazine with all the book recommendations?), when i became perturbed by some people in the mag section conversing fairly loudly for a library. i tried to shrug it off but it distracted me, so i did what anyone would do - i eavesdropped. from the snippets i got, i soon realized that they were two homeless people.

man: "and that was when he beat you up?"
woman: "no, he beat me up before then."
man: "do you still have bruises?"

man: "let me tell you, when you're out there and hungry, and they start giving out food, you don't care what it is. it could be peanut butter, whatever. it tastes good."

it blew my mind. talk about real-life problems. poor people.