A Living Magazine - Day 313 - Homecoming - Greenville to Wilmington

It rained all night. By morning the current batch of clouds seemed to have utterly spent itself out--well, not utterly. Packed up my wet stuff, climbed down from the hill and walked back along the paved path to the onramp (which for me was an off ramp). I made my way back to Starbucks to work for the day and try to raise funds. 

It was a repeat of the day before, except this time I would leave early enough to get my long-sought salad, along with a small slice of stromboli (only $1.75). Standing outside eating my dinner, I noticed more of those bird mansions...

I had weighed, and then reweighed, and then triple weighed my options for the night. I needed to catch a train at 4:45 a.m. in Wilmington. Would I go back to the last night's sleep spot and catch a few hours of sleep? Would I find a place closer so I wouldn't have to walk in the middle of the night through downtown Wilmington (the train station was 5 miles away from Greenville). Or, would I take a chance and just hang out in or near the station itself? Some stations will let a ticketed passenger stay through the night. Wilmington Amtrak's station closed at midnight and reopened at 4:00 a.m.

I chose the third option, and left for the station while it was still light out. It was a simpler route than I'd taken the day before: Pennsylvania to Delaware, then Delaware to Orange, which led down to MLK/Riverfront Street and the station...

I passed by this school, which had a rich and long history.

Then I passed by Tower Hill School, which had its

own walking bridge over the road to an athletic field.

I got to the station and immediately went to the ticket counter which was about to close. I asked them if there was any way I could stay overnight there, since it was only four hours between their close and open times, besides I had nowhere else to sleep. They told me that as long as I had a ticket, the police would not kick me out. That was reassuring. I'd done a similar thing in Milwaukee as you might recall. It was a good, dry, safe way to avoid getting a sleep spot. I probably wouldn't be able to sleep, but there was Wi-Fi and a vending machine. What else could I ask for?

Every now and then I'd step outside to see if it was raining...

For the most part though I sat in the little cafe area at a table and watched Youtube documentaries. I got very sleepy, but kept myself up. At about 11:30 p.m. the police were going from person to person checking their tickets. Everyone except for yours truly was leaving before closing time.

A female officer walked up and in an unsmiling and cop-like way (you know, how some of them do that thing where they act like they know everything and are trying to get you to lie about something or make a mistake so they can harass you?--yeah, that way), asked me why I was there so early. "Were you aware that the station closes in a half hour?" I told her I was, but that Amtrak had told me I could stay over night, because I had no other option. "No," she said, "...we don't allow that!" I felt my blood pressure rise, and asked her why they would tell me that? "Because they're idiots!"

I wasn't pleased, and I bit my tongue several times during our brief exchange. Eventually - unable to take the high road and just approve it herself - she told me she'd have to ask the sergeant, but that he'd probably let me, since Amtrak had told me I could stay there.

I thought to myself that, "Surely, this is not the first time in decades that this kind of thing has happened?" She never returned, though I saw her strutting around the mostly empty station looking important.

Another female and male pair of officers went around locking all the doors, then asked me the same question. I told them what I told the first officer, accidentally (and, never do this!) calling her a security guard, then pointed to her. The male, a big black guy, walked up and turned to me, saying, "There are no security guards here sir...only police officers." The short, older, female officer pursed her lips and nodded in agreement. Forcing myself not to roll my eyes and laugh in their faces, I told them, that was fine. I could go and sit on the sidewalk  outside for the next 4 hours, even though I'd been told twice now that it should be okay to stay there.

The female officer lightened up a bit and said, "Alright... You can stay, but it won't be very comfortable... You can sit in the cafe part and if you need to sleep just nod off on the table." I thanked her, and walked back over to that section as they practically goose stepped away, pulling down on their bulletproof vests, breaking into a swagger that would have impressed any B action movie-lover.

So, there I sat, completely alone, listening to trains rumble over without stopping. Under the florescent-lit lobby. The mechanical security voice came on every fifteen minutes, announcing to no one that bags may be pulled out, randomly checked and don't pet the police dogs, always ending with... "And if you see something, say something!" Probably the most ironic situation in which for me to hear that. I tried to sleep. I tried different positions, tried laying my head on the table, tried putting chairs together; nothing worked. It was a long 4 hours...

Finally, as the homeless and street people lined up at the glass doors to be let in for their morning piss, shit, and loiter, the first female robocop returned, jack boots clicking proudly across the smooth concrete floor. She unlocked the door and let in the unwashed masses. I waved and said good morning to her. She she turned, saying nothing, and walked right by me.

Wilmington Wake Spot.