Lost On A Bench In The Prominade

Bruce just sits on a bench all day long. He is a good looking guy in his 50's. He doesn't look weathered, but he refuses to take a bath. He refuses to do anything but sit on that bench all day long in a 3 piece suit. I know where he sleeps. He sleeps by a dumpster by the pizza place in the Santa Monica Promenade. I listen to his stories of traveling and living in Hollywood in the 70's. Bruce got fired from his job in the City. He lived in Beverley Hills before he decided to take up residence on the bench by 4th st. He is an angry man. He rolls his cigarettes that he gets with the 3 dollars he gets every day from the vendor on 4th st. Every day at 7pm Bruce watches the stand while the guy goes to the bathroom. That 3 bucks a day is what he lives off of. Bruce knows everyone on the street. One day I was sitting and talking to him and a woman came running up frantically, dropped her pants, sat on the bench for the metro stop and urinated through the cracks in the bench and then leaned over and asked Bruce for a cigarette. Mind you this happened in broad daylight with 100's of wealthy tourists picked up a latte or jeans from Abercrombie & Fitch or The Armani Exchange. It may have been the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. The only thing that makes my friend Bruce smile is that band that plays in the Promenade on Thursdays. He just loves those kids, especially the one from Nicaragua who came here and decided to learn the drums so he could play in that band ( he also taught himself English ) It's sad to watch someone who has given up on life just sit on a bench unhappy. I mean, the guy is a really normal looking person. Maybe that's why people pass him by and no one ever takes the time to offer him some goodwill. No one notices him. Bruce doesn't carry himself like a bum and aside from his horrible scent, he just looks like a person sitting on a bench.
But he never leaves.
Across the street and with his wrists bound in 90 feet of thick chains shakes his music makers and eyeballs the street.
He sleeps in the doorway on 7th.
I wonder when these guys will ever leave?
They know how to get free Starbucks coffee at any Starbucks.
Clever 'eh?
I guess that's what kind of thing happens when you sit on a bench, sober, day in and day out, relying on handouts from people who don't even realize that you are homeless.
I wonder why people don't interact as much as they used to?
I wonder why someone would give up life just to sit on a bench in the Santa Monica Promenade day in and day out.
SOBER!