Author's Note
Believe it or not, this hits like home to me.
It's 5 fucking pm in the evening, or at least I think it is, because as we speak, I currently don't have a phone, wrist watch, or anything on me that I could use to tell the freaking time! But one things for certain - I am hopelessly stranded.
For a whole hour, I have been standing here on this street, helpless and frustrated, but mostly in confusion and disbelief as to all that has been happening this weekend. God! You don't even wanna know the amount of times I've reached into my empty pocket, hoping that by some miracle, I'd be able to find some loose change in there.
Ah... I'm so hungry! I could go for a doughy right now.
Shit! It's gonna get dark pretty soon and by the looks of the street, I really wouldn't wanna be here when night comes.
Oh dear God! Why? Why? How did it come to this? What the heck is happening?? What is all this????...
Ah... Ha! So this is what it's like to be homeless and stranded huh? Damn, if I knew it was gonna be this scary, I would've watched a lot more of those Bear Grylls survival videos.
Oh well, just queue the music then:
I choose Option 2:
You are homeless for the weekend in a strange city with no family or friends to assist you - You have no money, and no possessions - just the clothes on your back. What do you do and why? Write at least 350 words to explain your thoughts, decisions and actions.
Oh, if only it were as simple as blaming my sudden misfortune on some mystical Australian Oracle somewhere, but no! It simply had to be good old natural mundane causes!
But anyway, here's the full story
Friday
You see, it all happened on Friday, when I decided to take an out of country train commute from Berlin to Austria but ended up arriving at Russia. And yes, I know what you're thinking: "what type of idiot confuses a train going to Russia with Austria?" Well, when you're trying to get as far away from your crazy ex-girlfriend as I was, combined with numerous upon numerous sleepless nights, anything is possible!
So there I was on the train, fast asleep and having horrific nightmares about my ex, Lisa, when I felt the train stop. Then, upon getting down, I was shocked to see that I had somehow arrived in another country! And much worse, it was Russia!
Of course, the first thing I did was to quickly approach the counter and lodge a complaint at the ticketing boot. It took a while to sort things out but at the very end it cost me twice as much to reschedule another train back to Austria.
Ah yes, I remember how skeptical I was at fist when that lady clerk told me the reschedule price, and how that inner voice within kept urging me to decline the offer and find a better alternative elsewhere. Afterall, it was my last cash and if i were to spend it all - I wouldn't have so little as a single Euro left!
Regrettably though, I ended purchasing the ticket and it wasn't until that little slutty clerk told me:
Sir, i'm sorry but there are currently no available trains at the moment. The next train, however, is expected to arrive sometime after the weekend. Oh, we do apologize for this inconvenience.
That I completely lost my shit! I knew I had single handedly made the worst mistake ever.
"Surely," I thought. "Surely I could just ask for my money and go back to Berlin to try my luck with my ex?" I mean certainly, it would be a tragic nightmare, one straight out of the bottomless pits of hell no doubt but, at least it would be better than spending the weekend stranded in a strange country I have no clue about! And so after thinking it through carefully, I proceeded to ask the clerk if I could reroute my destinations; but would you believe that little blondie of a whore???She refused!
Sorry sir, but it's policy that all tickets already submitted to the system for validation, can not in anyway be subjected to further change or any form of adjustment. Please understand this is for security ourposes. So... I'm afraid I can give you no refunds! But don't worry sir, Moscow has many numerous and affordable hotels to choose from to spend the weekend.
*"Are they complimentary?" I quickly and desperately asked.
I'm afraid not sir. You'll have to pay for them on your own. Do ride with us again on your next commute and have a good day as well!
Way too dumbfounded now, so much as to speak another word, I simply left the train station in tears.
Argh... and getting around the street was the toughest of all! I mean, it's one thing to ask people for a little assistance in an unknown city, but it's another to ask them in a foreign language they don't at all understand!
Heck, one woman who got way too pissed when I asked if I could borrow her phone to make a call, couldn't help but express her most deepest feelings towards me. Immediately, upon asking, she yelled:
Отъебись от Лошадиного дерьма!
Which, if I translated that correctly, means "Fuck off Horse shit!"
Ah yes, it was quite brutal.
I asked them in English - they didn't understand, asked them in German - they didn't understand, asked them even in sign language, and they still didn't understand!
Completely overwhelmed by fatigue now, I resolved to get some rest. However, before I rested, I managed to find a little piece of charcoal and a huge piece of cardboard in the dumpster, on which I wrote the inscription:
Please help me, I am from Berlin and I am currently stranded here in Moscow. I have no money nor any means of communication. I don't speak Russian at all so as you may imagine, i haven't really been able to get any help. So please, if you can read this, could you spare me some assistance. Thank you :)
Then, after writing, I kept the sign right next to me as I sat and rested near the dumpster where people passed all the while, hoping that at least one English speaker would pass by me and see the sign.
It must've taken hours before I finally got help because by the time I was awoken by that kind and elderly Filipino woman, it was already late at night and the street was empty.
Oh, you're quite the lucky young man now aren't you? Good thing I decided to get that milk from the store, if not I wouldn't have seen your sign. Look it's getting late, and Moscow is no place to be lingering alone once it gets dark. Let alone be sleeping!
Why don't you come with me? You said you needed some assistance right?
"Oh please, you don't have to Ma'am" I said not wanting to pry. "If you can, just a little cash would be fine. I can take of the rest no need to worry"
Nonsense! And what if you get robbed or even worse if you slept here. Please, I insist!
And the rest was history really. After she took me to her apartment, and after going down hard on the 3 full bowls of rice she served me, we ended up talking a little about my situation that night. Apparently, she was just going out to buy some milk from a nearby store that night when she saw me and my sign. Turns out that she, herself, was an immigrant in Russia and when she saw my sign, it immediately made her recall her early days when she had first arrived in Russia. And so, being able to sympathize and relate with my situation, she decided to lend me some assistance.
She was a very nice lady
Anyway, later that night she allowed me sleep in her spare bedroom. And assured me that I could spend the night there until my train had arrived. However, she pleaded that I remained outside during the day so as not to spite her very nosy and aggressive landlord; to which, of course, I agreed without complaints.
And that Ladies and gentlemen brings us back to Saturday evening, it's 4:40pm and I am still hungry. However, after recalling all these things, I can't help but feel a little insensitive really. I mean, just yesterday I was having the worst day of my life over being stranded and homeless, and now I'm complaining about being hungry over a simple Doughnut? Nah... I need to get my priorities in check.
It's the little things at the end of the day that matter. At least, now I I've got some where to rest my head tonight.
Hell, it's getting kinda late in fact, I better head over to that old lady's place right now. Hopefully she made some of that sweet sweet rice.
Ahh... I shall have to repay after this though - maybe buy her some flowers or a box of chocolate or something. She really did save my life back then.
Good to know they're still good people like her out there.
THANKS FOR READING AND KEEP EXPLORING!