Deserted is how I wanted it, which is why I ventured out of my cozy home on a chilly day. I wanted it that way because I am a geocacher, and I was scouting potential geocache placements. Geocaching tends to arouse suspicion, so it was nice to be there poking around without getting any wary looks.
On this particular day, I was scouting for my "Ballfield Series" caches, which is a series of four geocaches dispersed through the numerous ballfields in our town's main city park. According to the standards for placing a geocache, they should be at least 1/10 mile apart. I had already determined the location for Ballfield Series numbers 1, 3, and 4, but was still undecided between a few locations for number 2.
One of my potential locations (and the one I actually chose) was near the dugouts of the field pictured above. The red arrows show my approach to the backsides of the two dugouts as I looked for the perfect hiding spot for "Ballfield Series #2". I paused and poked around the backside of the first dugout in the right of the picture (remember this location), then moved to the backside of the other.
When I arrived at the second dugout (with a vantage point that afforded a view of the interior of the first dugout) and started nosing around (and making some noise), to my surprise I startled a male figure, apparently taking a "Sunday afternoon nap" inside the first dugout.
I'm not sure which of us was startled more, but I quickly took my toys and went home, wanting to avoid any kind of confrontation with the mysterious man in the dugout.
Yet, a confrontation had already occurred, and I couldn't stop wondering... who sleeps in a dugout on a 20 degree Sunday afternoon?
There was a more important question, though (that I also couldn't stop wondering)... how should I respond?
I live in a small town with a population that hovers pretty close to 5,000. We really do not see homeless people here (if, in fact, he was a homeless man). But, what are the other possibilities? He could have been a runaway... he looked like a young adult, from the quick glimpse I had. He could have been a fugitive on the lam. He could have been mentally ill, a "missing person", abused, stoned... who knows? One thing is certain... under normal circumstances, he would not voluntarily choose to sleep in a concrete dugout on a blustery 20 degree February Sunday.
As I sat back in my warm home, I was unable to forget about him. Yet, I had no idea how to respond. Should I take him some warm food? And then what... just leave him there in the cold? What if he was dangerous? Should I call the authorities? But, hasn't he already had a rough day without that?
I still don't know what was the right answer. There are no easy answers to the world's hurts, but I was surprised to be confronted with it on a Sunday afternoon in small town America. I have to admit that I was disturbed by it. But, was I disturbed by his suffering... or, my own discomfort? Probably both, but if I am honest, more so the latter.
How would you have responded?
I'm not exactly proud of it, but in the end, I did...
Nothing.
1 comment:
Only YOU know the right answer for what YOU should have / should not have done.
There are many scenarios that could play out in a situation like this. Abused / Abuser.
Running from / hiding from.
Stable / Unstable.
High / Drunk.
Armed / Unarmed.
Perpetrator / Victim.
It's hard to say. Ultimately you are responsible for self preservation. You have a responsibility to yourself and your family. That being said - I am pretty certain I too would have walked away - but I think I would have alerted the authorities...
If he needed to be arrested (think Domestic Abuse, etc), or a mental health evaluation, or in need of some assistance - the police are suited to evaluate, deal with, and direct someone toward the appropriate service(s).
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