Sleepless in Canton.

We are so glad that Mcdonalds opens it dining room at 530am for breakfast. When you sleep on the streets and you are so cold or feel threatened the safety of mcdonalds at 530am and getting to wash your face and hold a hot coffee cup in your hand (if you can afford it) is dreamy experience. When you sleep on the streets the nights are not your friend because you are so paranoid and the days bring the confort of light illuminating every dark corner.

The last two nights have been interesting nights on the streets as we experience more and more of the mental stress and unpredictability of the homeless life. On wednesday night about 1:30 am Chad and i were sleeping in his truck in an open parking lot off of walnut when a police car making its rounds came flashing lights through every car and stopped at ours when they saw our leaned seats. We were hoping they would not see us but it was too late as the cops got out the car and approached ours. Heart racing, eyes wide open and feeling the adrenaline rush chad jumped out the car on instinct to speak to the police officers. Another cop car pulled up behind us to provide backup for the first car and made the situation even more intense for Chad and I. Chad opened the door and started to tell the approaching officers how we were doing a fundraiser and were just spending the night in the truck for the night. Suddenly i saw the police officer reach for his gun and with authority in his voice exclaim "Sir take your hands out of your pocket, and put them where we can see them!!" I then realized Chad, making the mistake of putting his hands in his pockets, had alarmed the officers of a possible retaliation from Chad. Chad quicly shot his hands up in the air and the officers asked for his ID. As Chad reached out for his ID in his pocket he started to name off what i believe to be every police officer he had grown up with or knew personally in the city of Canton. With a grin on his face the officer exclaimed, "Well you seem to know all the right people but you know this is very dangerous to be here sleeping like this downtown right?" Chad said a few other words to which i cannot recall that were good enough to give the police officers enough confidence to leave us alone and not arrest us for trespassing on private property.

That night was surely a crazy night. We came from this experience thanking God for the police force in Canton that actually shows that the police are doing their job in keeping our city safe. The other thing on our minds was how hard it is for the homeless who are always getting found by the police or others through the night as they try to get some rest. We can tell you for the rest of the night we were wide awake and could only dream of what a nice bed in the comfort of our homes would feel like.