A Car-Chase-Filled Night of Mobile Outreach

I went out sporting my closed-toed shoes and long pants on Thursday night for my second overnight mobile outreach shift (see this link for more descriptions about my first night out and HIPS' mobile outreach services in general). As always, there were all kinds of mini-adventures that took place - interesting interactions, hilarious encounters, and huge learning experiences, but I want to focus on a few anecdotes that I found particularly frustrating, exciting, and compelling from Thursday night.

The first was just a short exchange - I was in the back seat packing bags of condoms and therefore not talking to people on the street - but the HIPS volunteer in the front seat asked an older woman if she wanted any free "condoms, candy or lemonade." The woman told us that we should be spreading the word of Jesus not giving out condoms, and that sex should only be reserved for married couples. Right, because no married couples ever use condoms, or because the pill works for everyone, or because all married couples want to have children, or because there is never an instance where one partner has something that they may not wish to pass to their partner... That's the cynic in my head going on and on, but my co-worker gently and tactfully pointed out that married people use condoms too. The woman did not want to hear it, but we left feeling as though we had stuck to HIPS' (and our own) values. While I might not agree with the older woman, I respect her right to express her opinion. We're not going to curb what we're doing anytime soon if we can help it though...

At about 2:30 or 3 AM we got to one of the main sex worker "strolls" in DC and immediately heard sirens. We looked around and saw nothing - where were they coming from? The street we were on usually has two lanes in either direction, but due to a ton of construction and attempts at gentrification, big concrete barriers narrow it down to two skinny lanes. Suddenly, a white Mercedes truck came careening through the middle of the road as we were stopped at a red light, and screeched through the intersection, skidding loudly about 5 feet. I swear, it looked like a stunt from an action movie. And let me remind you, this is a Mercedes truck, not a 1991 Toyota with bald tires.

The stunts continue: the truck swung into a wide parking spot at an awkward almost-head-on angle, got about two feet onto the sidewalk, was tilted up on its two left tires while the two right tires got about three or four feet of air, then smashed back down right next to a tree and on a little metal fence. Then two or three guys sprinted from the car, making a beeline in opposite directions and running at full panicked speed. At this point, the cops had just arrived and started taking off after the guys, while we sat there, flabbergasted, through several rounds of traffic lights. Once we all got our wits about us, we realized that we should probably get off this strip - you never know when a good old car chase is going to turn nasty.

We chatted with some folks on the strip later on in the night, and they told us that the car had been stolen (surprise, surprise), but I don't know many more details apart from that.

One of the highlights of the night happened much later on - at a time in the early morning when my father has already completed his workout for the day and is thinking about what's for dinner (I'm joking, kind of... it was late and he does wake up pretty early...). It was about 5:00 AM and we were just finishing and about to go back to the office, when we stopped to chat with an older gentleman. Slightly timid initially, we offered him our supplies and services, and when he realized that we were able to give him free condoms, his face completely lit up. We mentioned that not only were the condoms free, but we had all different types! And flavors! And lube! He was totally psyched, and we hooked him up with a mixed bag of regular and flavored condoms, regular and flavored lube, and then asked him if he wanted dental dams. He didn't know what they were, so we explained that they were a thin piece of plastic to be draped over the vagina or the anus if you wanted to eat either out. And ours are flavored! He blushed and looked shy for a moment when we asked if he wanted some, then kind of nodded, and once we were like, "Hell yeah, go for it! Try them out and see how you like it!" he broke into a full smile and accepted several. it was so freaking awesome to see a man of 47 exploring his sexuality and trying new things. He then said to us, "Y'all made my day! I know that my day is going to be wonderful because of all that you've given me. I'm going to be thinking about this all morning!"

If only I could make everyone's day each morning by giving them condoms, lube and dental dams. It might only be vocalized once and a while, but by saying that, he didn't realize the difference he made in my day.