Rob

Last night I met Rob as he was sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk near the old International Market Place. Dressed in a clean Hawaiian shirt and shorts, he was reading what I assumed to be a Bible. I would guess he was in his 50's, was almost bald with neatly trimmed grey facial hair.  A sign in front of his bag said: HUNGRY.  I handed him a few dollars, introduced myself and asked him for a story.

His eyes lit up as he said, "If you're looking for something sad, you've come to the wrong place!"   His smile was charming.  I said I was interested in anything he felt like sharing.

I sat next to him and listened as he wove his tale about coming to Hawaii seven years ago and being homeless since then.  His hands became animated as he told me he was an artist and a lucky one too.  Lucky because his friend had a little extra room where he lived and he told Rob he could store his art supplies there. Rob believes he will make it big one day.  His current goal other than  making art is to get an iphone so he can take pictures of his art work and sell to people passing by because he cannot carry the work itself all the time.

He said he actually enjoyed sitting where he was because he met such interesting people.  He thanked me again for the dollars and said he used the donations for either food, the laundromat, or the bus.    I thanked him and as I got up to leave I confessed that I didn't remember his name.

"I'll give you a hint," he said.  "It's Rob! Now that's a good hint, isn't it?" he laughed and waved.