No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...

madamefifi

madamefifi

cat hoarder
O.G.
Aug 23, 2006
5,809
742
#1
...or, The Funk Of A Homeless Person Is A Powerful Thing! LOL...

We have this homeless gentleman on our unit who was admitted a few weeks ago with liver and kidney problems related to ETOH (alcohol to you laypersons), and the clothes that he was wearing when he came in through the ER have been festering in a couple of plastic bags ever since. He has been worried about getting his clothes clean so yesterday I took them home to wash. I was gowned, gloved, and masked (really, I was, I'm not crazy) as I gingerly opened the bags--and yet still the stench nearly made me ralph! His underpants can only be described as foul. You do not want to know. I threw them away, along with his socks, and washed the remaining items not once, not twice, but three times, the third time presoaking them in a whole gallon of Petzyme, lol, in an ultimately futile attempt to get some of that funk out. Finally I tossed everything in the dryer and went to bed. My DH informed me when I got up that the aroma of those clothes cooking in the dryer literally drove him and his sons out of the house! Now my whole downstairs reeks of Eau de Homeless Dude!! Even the cats won't go downstairs! Just kiddin', it's not really that bad, but you know how sometimes a smell just gets sorta stuck in your nose? It's like that.

Anyway, his clothes are clean (if not fragrant) and my DH and I threw in some underwear (DH's, not mine, LOL), socks, a pair of sweatpants, and a couple of warm shirts so the poor guy will have something to put on when he's streeted again after the MDs are done tweaking him back into a semblance of health.

The capper is that when I brought him his stuff back tonight, he goes, "your name's Mary, right?" which really surprised me since I have only taken care of him twice since he's been here and he's not exactly compos mentis if you KWIM. So now everytime he sees, hears, or possibly even smells me he's hollering my name and begging me for food, beverages, and cigarettes! Why, he's my new BFF!! He may want to move in or something! "Hey, honey, this is my new BFF Homeless Dude, he's gonna be living in the garage for a spell." LOL!!

So that's the story of my Random Act of Kindness. Don't let this happen to you!
 
#6
Even the cats won't go downstairs! -- that had me laughing out loud!

Bless your heart, what a sweet person you are! I am sure his life is not filled with much kindness and that probably made his year! I wonder when the last time he had clean clothes was...
 
#7
I agree with Danica. His life isn't likely filled with much kindness, and he will likely never forget the name of someone who helped him. I'm sorry about the smell and that you have become his go-to person, but you are a truly good person for doing what you did.
 
#8
Eau de Homeless Dude, coming to a store near you. LOL

madamefifi, *hugs* to you. You did a wonderful thing. I'm one of those ppl with the damn bleeding hearts, and I used to volunteer at the homeless shelter here in NYC (teaching computer and other office skills so they can enter the work force). And like Danica said, some of these ppl's lives aren't filled with much kindness at all so a simple act of humanity from a total stranger really stays in their heads and hearts, forever.
 
#11
That was a very sweet thing you did for him and I am sure it touched his heart. He may think you will keep doing more for him, but I guess maybe he just wants some attention.
In the hospital my friend worked at they had a clothing room where they would give patients gently used clothing and a bag to take with them since most were homeless. Just one simple thing can make a difference in someones life.
Karma will bless you.
 
#12
That was a very nice (and brave) thing you did. At least you have an funny story to tell. Is thing smell gone yet? Did you have to relpace your W & D? Jusy kidding!
 
#14
OMG!!!

This TOTALLY reminds me of that episode of "Good Times" when Florida is trying to get ready for a good housekeeping sort of contest, and then Michael, who always tried to do a good deed and bring people home to stay with him, brought home Ned the Wino for the family to detox and clean up! Florida thought Ned the Wino would ruin her chances to win the contest, but they cleaned him up, put him in one of James' suits, and lo and behold, not only was he presentable, but Florida's apartment won the contest, because one of the judges was Ned the Wino's wife!
 
#15
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but for those of you who may be interested, Homeless Dude passed away this morning. He was having some respiratory issues when I left work this AM and I had a feeling he wasn't gonna make it. He had made himself a Do Not Resuscitate because his prognosis was so poor so I hope his end was fairly peaceful even though he was a bit of an a**hole at times. Thanks to all who checked out the original thread, I am glad I was able to do a little something for him before he died. Sad to die alone....
 
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