A Social Critique Over Tacos

I work part-time in a local Mexican restaurant near my house, (No, it's not Taco Bell, we serve real tacos here) and since I'm a student and most of my classes are in the morning, I usually work in the evenings. This means that I constantly have to deal with the creepy costumers that hide during the day and only come out at night. On this note, let me tell you about a rather unfortunate experience, and my thoughts on it.

It was around 7 pm on a Friday and me and my co-worker were busy with some costumers. They had ordered our typical combo of six tacos and a large salad. My co-worker started preparing the salad while I worked on the tacos, and then the door of the restaurant opened and I saw a homeless guy enter. Now, this guy was pretty much a regular, if I should call him that. He came to the restaurant often and we usually gave him a free taco or a bowl of soup, just to help him out a little. Another thing that you should know is that he is an addict and he is stoned most of the time. However, that evening he was sober and rather chill. He approached me and asked me for a bowl of soup, and I said yes and started pouring it in a container. He then asked me if he could use our restroom. I remember I hesitated a little bit but, since he seemed sober, I decided it was not such a bad idea, so I let him. (By now you might be thinking "that was dumb of you." and you are quite correct.)

He went into the restroom and I left the soup ready for him to take it and kept on working with my stuff. My co-worker looked at me in disapproval and I just hoped I hadn't made a mistake. The thing is that usually addicts tend to go into the public restrooms to snort something or basically get high in there. After a while, the guy came out and still looked fine, so I gave him the soup for him to go. But the guy asked me if he could maybe sit down and eat it there. I was not convinced with the idea but I decided to let him. (I know, another dumb decision, but just hear me out.) Long story short, a few minutes later, my co-worker approached me and told me that the guy had fallen asleep. I looked over and indeed, he was asleep, with the spoon full of soup hovering over the container, untouched. I mentally facepalmed myself and went over there and tapped him on the arm and saying "Sir, sir."

He didn't respond and I kept trying for a few minutes. Of course the other costumers had noticed and I felt really embarrassed because it was definitely my fault. So I called my manager and told her about the situation and she was like "keep trying to wake him up, I'll be there in five minutes." And I wanted to call 911 but but I decided to try and wake him up again before that. All I could think of at the moment was "Please don't die, just don't you dare dying, dude." After a little while, he opened his eyes, clearly stoned and started babbling about having missed his bus and the soup being delicious (He hadn't even gotten to taste it yet.) So I grabbed him by the arm and helped him out the door and he left. My manager came in a little later and she asked me if everything was fine. I said yes and started laughing because of the nerves.

Now that the storytime is over, here are some of my thoughts on the situation. Yes, I was stupid. Yes, I shouldn't have been so lenient. And no, I don't regret acting the way I did. I wanted to be a good person because every day I walk down the street, I see homeless people on every corner, and I feel bad about them. Of course, that issue left me very disappointed and now we don't allow any homeless person to get in the establishment anymore. But this experience also made me think of a friend who once asked me if I was planning to stay in this town after I finished college. And my answer was "Absolutely not."

And the thing is that in the town where I'm living now, there aren't many opportunities for a student. Or an adult. Or basically anyone. It took me more than a year to find a job here, because there simply aren't enough jobs for locals. And pretty much all the jobs one can find pay only the minimum wage, which is not nearly enough to even pay rent. If my parents weren't supporting me with my rent right now, I don't think I'd be here at all. My town is located about two hours away from Toronto, and many of the people who live here have jobs there. Lately people have been saying that the government is planning on building a railway that takes you quicker to Toronto. However, it seems that everyone is more focused on connecting the town to a bigger city than giving support and creating programs that benefit local people.

Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider opening a rehab center for the homeless, because they are probably the major drug consumers, not only in this town but in many other places. This also makes drug dealing a profitable business that affects the health and economy of every individual. I think that by implementing strategies that focus on giving people a better lifestyle, can impact positively on many other sectors of the town, like tourism, culture and expansion. There would be less homeless people on the streets, economy would prosper and the town would eventually develop positively.

This is not by any means a political text because I don't think I'm the right person to talk about those themes. It is a personal opinion based on what I see every day and I thought it was a good idea to share it.