Young Writers Society

It was mid-November and cold. I sat in a chair on the historic downtown mall of Charlottesville, facing a Five Guys and contemplating whether the 7 dollars in my pocket would be of use in the future, or would a delicious, greasy cheeseburger benefit me now. I decided on the latter and was about to stand up, when the body in the adjacent chair shuffled. From under a pile of blankets, jackets, bags and various other materials, a figure emerged, face creased with the squint of hopelessness. To my surprise, the woman smiled at me as I gazed in amazement.

“Hello” I said tentatively.

“Hi” the woman replied bluntly.

“Boy, its cold” she continued, catching my attention as I’m always interested in ones critique of the weather.

“Yeah…” I agreed.

Conversation continued awkwardly until she began in on her personal life:

“I’m a PE teacher” She led off with, immediately making me second guess her sanity. There was no way such a person, buried beneath a wardrobe of dirtied clothing, bags of canned food, and sporting a rusted walker could be a PE teacher.

“What…?” I asked in slight amazement, staring at the walker which had 3 plastic bags of food from the local Lucky 7 market on each handle, bending them with the weight of unhealthy consumables. Following my gaze, the woman understood my questioning and began to explain in further detail:

“I got hit by a truck! Walking through the parking lot is not as safe as you think, even if you do look both ways. I’m trying to tell the kids to be safe and careful all the time, but they don’t listen... They just walk away from me…” She spoke sincerely. Her voice was slurred and wavy with the ways of insobriety. She continued by telling me of her hip replacement and eventual knee surgery. She told me of the physical therapy that must be done and her long wait before walking normal once more.

“When will you start work again?” I asked, assuming she was comfortable with the fact that she was so obviously homeless, broke, and out of work.

“I am a PE teacher.” She replied strongly, as if not letting go of the past and instead remaining with what she once was and hoped to be again.

“You can’t just stand up and walk away after something like that….it takes time and it takes a lot out of you. I’m trying to tell the kids to be safe and careful all the time, but they don’t listen. They just walk away from me….” She repeated, before I thanked her for her time and ran into the restaurant just before closing.

After the fact, and even still today, I think on that conversation and constantly go back and forth as to whether I believe all that the PE teacher said. I think of how outlandish it is that she was once a teacher of fitness and health and how now she has nothing and is the pinnacle of disability and uncleanliness, and then I don’t. I realize how easy it is to lose everything and how commonly it happens. She is not the only person I have met who boasts a life of perfection and happiness, yet stands in tattered rags.

A fireman

A preacher

A truck driver

A stockbroker

A PE teacher

No matter the place, no matter the situation before or the situation now, no matter the person.

They are proud to be people, just like you and me.