A Day in the Life of a Hobo

A Day in the Life of a Hobo

By: Sara Bogle

Chilly snowflakes fell silently to the ground. Each individual design slowly sank to the earth. A taxi zoomed by; inside it was another nameless face. Larry Hobbs watched it speed away. Tall, gray New York City buildings loomed over him like monsters of darkness. A green light appeared on the other side of the cross walk and a picture of a man walking showed up on a screen. Larry hurriedly crossed the road and was met by many busy people pushing and scowling to go their separate ways. A sweet smell of hot chocolate reached Larry's nose and he breathed deeply. A nice warm cup of hot chocolate sounded perfect for the cold weather. But he couldn't- he had no money. A man bumped him in the arm.

"Hey! Watch it pal! You tryin' to start something?" The man's voice was rough and he was obviously very short tempered.

"No, nothing." Larry replied in what he hoped sounded like an apology.

"I got no nerve for people like you, so stay out of my way!" The angry man stormed away leaving Larry in the middle of a crowd. Another person- another person had reminded Larry about what had happened only a few months before.

Larry Hobbs had been a very successful worker at the Apple computer company before the accident. He was involved in the development of a brand new computer along with his partner, Chuck Perry. Larry was only one position up from Chuck so the boss had decided they should work together; they were working tremendously hard to come out with a new model before Christmas and they had almost completed it when Larry had ruined it. He was carrying the monitor over to a table to work on it when he slipped on a stray screw and the whole thing had shattered. Shards lay all around him and a horrible smoke came from the computer the smoke set off the sprinklers which ruined almost all the computers in the store. Larry was fired the next day and he slowly lost everything that he had.

Larry hated to be reminded of how he lost his job, and the man had ticked him of even more. Larry strode off, no longer in a joyful mood and forgetting all about the hot chocolate because he was reminded that he was now a hobo.

Larry was not the type of person who could stay mad long, and his spirits were soon lifted as he turned the snowy corner. He was passing a Star Bucks when he noticed a man sitting at a table. Papers were spread out all around him; he was wearing appropriate attire for the frosty weather and seemed to be drinking a cup of coffee and a piece of banana bread. Larry knew this man- his name was Chuck Perry. Chuck must have moved up a rank because he was looking more stressed than usual. For the fist time in a long time Larry felt ok about not having a job. He could do what ever he wanted; the rules didn't apply to him. But rich people like the ones walking around him were stressed, angry, and they had to follow the rules. For the first time in a long time Larry Hobbs felt free.