A few minutes with an invisible man

DUBUQUE - The glass window of the Rescue Mission office gleamed with a fresh sparkle. The homeless man stood at the two-wheel cart, which held all his worldly possessions. He wore a gray wool cap and a new green, ankle-length coat festooned with round, black buttons. He bent like a stork. 'Yeah,” he said, 'New coat. I like the buttons. I'd like to get more eyes for more buttons, have the buttons go down to the bottom.”

'You can wear whatever you want to these days. Used to be certain styles but now anything is fine.”

The gray-handled cart was piled high: A red suitcase sat at the bottom of the pile, topped by a tan leather carryall, then a dark blue duffel bag, a lettuce green nylon bag and, finally, an ice blue cloth bag, all secured with ties and cord. A shoulder pack hung upon the handle and a briefcase swayed at the crossbar. The man's whole life set upon that gray handled cart.

'I like the old style of coat that used to hang to the ground. They wore those before the automobile. Kept them warm in the buggies.”

Inside the mission, at the kitchen counter, the volunteers talked about the new coat. It took weeks to convince the man to take it.

'I'm trying to plant the idea that he shouldn't stay outside,” one said. 'He should settle down, find a place, but he doesn't listen.”

In a sweet voice, the homeless man finished his conversation: 'You can wear whatever you want. It doesn't matter.”

People with carts are invisible. On the freezing sidewalk outside the mission, well-dressed holiday shoppers strolled past the impoverished men, shivering and slapping at their shoulders to stay warm and dry under a canopy. The walking wealthy bore fattened wallets and handbags, wearing only sweaters and vests as they moved in the crisp air from their well-heated cars to the casino bridge. They will not remember the man with the gray handled cart.

' Tim Trenkle teaches psychology and writing at Northeast Iowa Community College and volunteers at the Rescue Mission in Dubuque. Comments: trenklet@nicc.edu