Who are these people?

How the hell do these people travel without any money? -Subway employee at bus station in Rochester, NY (or some upstate stop) Who are these people that travel around without any apparent means to support themselves? Again and again I’ve run into people who are stuck between places. They’ve run out of money, they’ve had it stolen or they’re just drifting from town to town looking for work. They represent some kind of vagabond diaspora. It’s particular to bus stations. I’ve never seen it centered around any other transportation. Bus travel seems uniquely generous in what you can cajole yourself into and inexpensive as well.

I talk with these people and some are homeless and stuck in a city. They sleep at the bus station because the shelters are full. They plan their day around the 7am, 12pm, and 5:30pm meals they can get for free. Some work in one place for a week or longer and then buy a bus ticket to the next town they can afford to travel to and start all over. Some travel the country selling their belongings to keep the wandering going and find friends and family in towns to take care of them. Some people seem to make busses and bus stations their office. They’re working deals on their cell phone while they live out of their luggage and clean up in the bathroom.

I’m no closer to understanding what it means to be American. So much of being American seems to be tied to living somewhere in America. That’s not me right now. I’m just floating through addresses like so many others. Being American seems to mean in part experiencing the same current events. I have no idea what’s going on in the world unless it’s above the fold on a USA Today or local newspaper. I’m totally out of sync with the vast majority of the 8-5 working crowd. Every day I’ve got different waking hours subject to the whims of hostels, friends, bus schedules or public transportation.

I can happily say that no other problems in my life matter at this moment. The friendship lost with Rebecca, the awkwardness of staying with people I haven’t seen in years, where I’ll live in Dallas, what job I’ll find…they all vanish. In fact I don’t have any anxieties or worries right now. I just keep moving, finding places to eat and stay, and filling my head with all the great things this country has built up over the years.