Hitchhiker.

How in the star dot poundsign ampersand do you spell Hitchhiker? From here on out I will spell the word hitchhiker like this: Thegx. Nevermind.

So, today, I was driving home from (pittsburgh) and I had to stop to buy gas. My older brother Jeremy sent me a gas card in the mail because I am low on funds this month, and so I had to stop at a BP. After getting gas, I had to fill my car with windshield wiper fluid, and it was just really freaking cold. My hands hurt when I got back in the car.

Then, as I jumped on I-70 west, I saw a man on the side of the road who looked a whole star dot dollarsign of a lot like my father. He had a white canvas bag on the ground and he was Thegxing for a ride. I stopped the car feeling badly because it was so star dot at-signing cold outside. He threw his stuff in the back and jumped up front with me and blew into his hands. (Which were red and cracked at the knuckles.) He said "Thanks man, I'm going to Wheeling but I'll take a ride as far as you can get me."

I was going to Wheeling, so I told him. He then sniffed in through his nose and said "Sorry man, I was walking all day yesterday and it got pretty slushy. I try to keep a clean pair of socks on, but I slept on the stairs of some church last night, so I think my feet might stink. I hate that. I gotta get some laundry done or something."

I couldn't smell anything and I told him so, and he was glad to hear it. The rest of the drive he told me all about himself and why he was homeless now. It turns out he's 62 years old (A bit older than my father) and he was in the navy during Vietnam (like my father) after the war, he worked in a factory (like my father). Then the steel mill he was working in closed down, and after a series of mills closing down and getting a divorce, here he was. On his way to Wheeling because he knew of a place to spend the night there. After that, he's headed out to Columbus because he's a diabetic (like my grandmother) and he can get insulin from the VA hospital out there.

I felt terribly for him, but I'm glad to have given him a ride at least. I dropped him off at the Library and hopefully he'll have a warm place to stay tonight. The whole thing just breaks my heart because of how much he reminded me of my dad.