a drive along hastings street

Today I took some time and did what I call a driving photo recon of the area that I do most of my work in. the downtown eastside of Vancouver. I take the time now and then to just look things over and cover as much of the area as I can in a few hours of driving.
Thought I would share some of what I saw and did today.

I did my good dead by getting a woman who was really high out of the middle of Cordova street. She had started to cross the street with some pop and food in her hand. she walked out into traffic and almost got hit and she dropped her food and pop. she looks down and I would guess she saw some small white stones on the road and thought they were crack. you see this a lot down here. people down on their hands and knees going over the ground hoping to find a piece of crack that somebody might drop.
I pulled over and dodged traffic to take her gently by the arm. now I have a small hand and my fingers could touch around her arm under the shirt sleeve. she might have weighed about 75 pounds. drugs will do that to you. I led her to the sidewalk and pointed to a doorway. "It's over there." I said and sure enough, she heads to the doorway and starts getting down to search. at least it's a somewhat safer spot for her.

I watched another woman further along stroll through traffic while shouting at someobdy behind her on the sidewalk. she narrowly missed several cars and made it almost to the other side.
almost.
She turned her head to yell and walked straight on to a light pole and fell back almost out. a couple of men picked her up and proppeed her by the side of a building.

I saw two guys working at something near a corner. as I got close I thought they were doing something with a dog. I slowed down to see just what they were up to, and saw they had a dead coyote and they were in the process of cleaning it. what they will do is clean and section it into small pieces and take them down to s social center whre they can cook it in the microwaves there.

I saw a man already camped out in the doorway of a shelter so he would be first in when they opened the doors at 9pm. it was one o'clock then.

I saw this black dude, all bundled up in the heavy padded coat and hoodie pass a thick roll of bills to somebody in a new, 2010 Bentley something or the other. I'm not that familiar with their models.

I stopped and chekced on William. he was sleeping under his bridge. I left a blanket and a bottle of water for him without waking him. I had a look for a few of the others I sdee as well. they move around but I can usally spot them somewhere in the area.

this was my day. this is my city. this is what I do.