One More Pat-on-the-Back for the Hobo

is unknown. Possibly a term for a stowaway traveler out of the Hoboken, NJ train yards, or a contraction of ho, boy, or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”). It could also be an abbreviation for homeless boy or homeward bound. This history-based definition of a hobo says that the hobo was a male when history also recorded that a lot of hobos were female. But when their lives were on the line in a time when living from one day to the next meant survival, hobos were the same—no male or female, just homeless, jobless traveling souls without a home in search of a job.

The life of a hobo was far from easy. But you would have to ask a real life hobo in order to gain a truthful answer. The reason that many people (including myself) have been smoked for many years about a hobo living the free, good, life, eating unsold food at the back door of any restaurant whom the hobo had secured the food with some believable “sob story,” in order to get food upon request. When

the truth is known, a hobo sometimes met with a painful death due to starvation for the simple reason of not having food to eat. In the case of the hobo doing a favor or two for a certain restaurant may be the only avenue of survival for the hobo without food.

And another cold truth is that some hobo’s had to do shop-lifting to just have clothing to travel on the road to meet with yet another business that might give him a job, which was not that much in demand for places of employment due to the percentage of employment being near 100% (in the U.S.A.) when factories, businesses, even those in small sectors, had to shut-down because of no money. Yes, everyone had a hurt to contend with each passing day—and the hobo was not immune to that depressing hurt that was shared by those who once had seemingly had everything that they needed.

the truth about the hobo, but instead of going on and on to further depress you because I happen to know that (among my followers—me included) are considered “sensitive” when it comes to the welfare of others.

I would like to get on the “Sunshine Route” to see if there is a few areas of positive areas of life that we can attach to and although we fully-understand the horrible, sad lives of hobos, we might read the following items of information to see if the information should be attached to the life of a hobo. But I want to use myself as the first person in the following lists.

to use if I were to follow the life of a true hobo:

• “Sy”
• “Gordon”
• “Dewey”
• “Lathem”
• “Gilbert”
• “Thomas”
• “D.W. Dillon”

to use when it comes to going out into the pubic:

• A necktie, not a clip-on, but a real tie that I will have to take classes at my local community college on “How to Correctly Tie The Tie.”
• Slacks that are not slick from being worn almost to a frazzle.
• A hat that has style like those that men wore before the Crash of ‘29.
• Alligator slippers that I would keep shined even if I had to pan handle for some store to keep shoe polish for my slippers.
• I would not travel with a dog or cat because that means another mouth to feed, and I want to only be responsible for my own mouth. This way is more economically-efficient.
• A white or colorful shirt, but not too colorful. If I am going to be a real hobo, then if I show-up wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, this image tells people I am a Phony Hobo and be told to get out no matter where I happen to be.
• If I am blessed for someone to either buy or give me a delicious meal, I will only eat half of the food because I want to save some for traveling down the road when there are no cafe’s.
• And NO stick on my shoulder carrying what clothes I have in a bag. This image says, “I am a card-carrying poor hobo and I have nothing but my clothing.”

• “Morning, sir/ma’am. Do not worry. I am not going to beg for any of your Prime Rib.” (some reverse psychology.)
• “Ma’am, may I just say that although my pants and shirt are full of holes, I know that there are other hobo’s that are worse off than me.”
• “No, sir. Thank you for the offer of a hot bath, a warm bed, and a few cheeseburgers, but if I partake of your gifts, that might make me to be soft and not self-sufficient.”
• “Please stop that song on your radio! No one daring to be Real Hobo would be called “Hobo Bill.”
• “Sir, would you please donate a quarter for me give to a person down the block who does not have anything?”
• “Mr. Beat Cop, sir, I know that I am not allowed to sleep on the sidewalk, so would you please point me in the direction of a vacant lot or deserted building to where I can sleep tonight?”
• “Oh, ma’am, do not think that I am a hobo, just a man who is out of a job.”

Seriously, I hope that something in this piece will put the Real Hobos of America in a brighter light.

August 30, 2019_____________________________________________________