Teach A Man To Fish

The camera lens opens up on a busy city street with people commuting. Not slowing down for a second because time is money and there's not a lot of it to some people. There's loud chatter, cars honking, and loud jack hammers doing construction that drowns it all out. Then out from the side of the camera frame a man pops up. He shows off with his bright million dollar smile, clean-cut hair, athletic build blonde male with mic in his hand. He proceeds to speak.

“Hey everybody and welcome to downtown Las Palmas, my name is Mike…and I’m holding a mic” Mike says as he laughs at his own joke.

“…and this is day one of our first episode of Second Chances. Where we put the old saying ‘teach a man to fish’ to work. The goal is to find a homeless person, listen to their story, and with the help of our sponsors, turn their lives around. After we hear their story, we're going to train them in a trade skill fitting for them and help find a sustainable job. While they are training they will be living in a hotel for a month and be given the luxuries we take for granted such as hot showers, haircuts, a bed, and even some new clothes. So stay tuned and follow us on this incredible journey through the lives of some of the cities less fortunate population ” Mike ends his introduction.

“And cut. That was good. Let’s get a few more shots of the city and…we’ll check out under that bridge” says the voice coming from the huge towering lumberjack behind camera.

“Good idea Merv, there’s gotta be some worthless soul with a sob story people will eat up” Mike says.

“Yeah I’m sure.” Merv says with bore in his eyes.

“Ya’know, I’ve always loved this idea. Giving people second chances, for TV at least. There’s almost a guarantee that we’ll do a tragic follow-up episode every time. I mean, there’s a reason why these people are homeless, right? They can never seem to make the right decisions.” Mike says enthusiastically. 

“Mhm…” Merv replies, seemingly intolerant but Mike doesn’t take the hint.

The host and camera-man get to an area under the bridge. There are clothes, wrappers, plastic bottles everywhere; along with a few old mattresses, some tents and shopping carts.

“Man this place is a dump…it’s perfect!” Mike says out loud.

“We’re rolling…” Merv replied.

“Oh, our editors will fix that…” 

Mike gathers himself to prepare to film.

“Here we are, in the heart of Bumtown, USA. Hahaha. Okay, okay, edit that. We’ll do it for real this time” Mike says.

Merv just sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Here we are where our fellow Americans live. It’s truly disheartening seeing people fighting to survive each and every day. No shelter, no running water, no place that can truly feel like home. Not to worry though. We are going to get the story of one lucky person, really learn about them and offer to teach them a skill they can use. We will also get them a hotel they can live in for that month of training, a fresh new haircut and clothes. Hopefully, this will be enough to get them back on track and into the world again” Mike says with conviction.

A homeless man peaks out of his tent and slowly focuses in on Mikes direction. He approaches Mike because of what he had overheard.

Mike notices the man from the tent. He sees his grey beard peak out first, then a frail looking old body with oversized clothes on. He’s wearing a black beanie and a blue plaid shirt and grey sweat pants. The dirt on his fingers we only as clean as the water from the retention pond can get them.  

He approaches Mike with his big blue eyes and a soft smile.

“Are you here to save me?” the homeless man says gently.

“Save you? Haha” Mike laughs in his face.

“I’m here to host a show, but if you like you can be my first project. You see that camera? Ya’know, that big ol’ contraption there? That’s gonna record you, I’m gonna talk and you’re going to give me your answer. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get to live in a hotel for a month before you’re back on the streets again. Okay?” Mike said to the homeless man.

“Oh…okay. I’d like have a home again.” The homeless man ignores Mike’s rudeness.

“Ready to roll?” Merv asks.

“Yeah, yeah I’m ready. Let’s make gold.” Mike replies.

“Now you might look at this man and not think much of him. But what do we really know? Because ya’see, getting to know someone is one way to really figure out how they got into this mess, and we can continue to help him from there. So, can you tell me your name?” Mike asks.

“My name is Henry” he replies.

Mike gives Henry a look, as if he’s saying for him to continue.

“Well Henry, do you have a last name?” Mike asks.

“I do, I’d rather not use it."

“Ah kinda like Cher. I gotcha. So how did you end up here? Why are you homeless? Can you answer me that?” Mike says.

“I ran away from home when I was 14” Henry said softly.

“Oh, couldn’t handle your parents rules and thought you could make it on your own? I know this is a mistake for a lot of kids who think they’re grown. This is an important lesson, what would you tell those kids who might be thinking of doing that?” Mike asks.

“No it’s not that. It’s not that at all" Henry says defensively.

Henry’s blue eyes started getting watery. He gets choked up and couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Well what is it?”

Henry is consumed by emotions. And Merv cuts the camera and heads towards Henry to hand him a bottle of water and a candy bar from his pocket.

“Why’d you stop? He’s just milking you for food. He knows we have it” Mike says abruptly.

“He’s distressed, and it looks like you’re milking him” Merv answers back.

“Listen, I’M THE HOST OF THE SHOW AND WHAT I SAY GOES. NOW KEEP ROLLING” Mike shouts at Merv.

“You know what, I quit! I don’t need to work for a selfish, arrogant person like you. The only reason why I’m even here is because I have an actual passion for the show. Not for exploitation” Merv says as he sets his camera down and marches off.

“Fine! I can replace you with any intern. In fact, I don’t even need an intern. These bums can do this for sandwiches!” Mike says.

Mike picks up the camera, and grabs an old shopping cart and removes what might be the property of another homeless person. Then he sets the camera down and adjusts it so it’s facing the desired direction.

Henry’s eyes were still red as he wipes his tears from his face.

“Okay, so Henry. Tell me why you are homeless?” Mike asks again.

“I ran away from home at the age of 14” Henry says.

“We know that Henry but why? We need to know your story if we’re gonna help you” 

Mike is masking his impatience.

Henry’s eyes start to get red again and his lips start to quiver.

“Growing up, my father…he would always come home drunk and angry. I don’t know why he did. I guess he wasn’t happy with us. He would hit my mother all the time. I grew tired of it. I wanted him to stop but he would just angry with me and start beating on me instead. My mom wouldn’t leave him. She wasn’t allowed to work, so that he can be the breadwinner. One night, I hear him come home and he was drunk. He threw a canister or something at my mom and so I ran right to her. My mom told…She told me to leave and get out. My father…he seemed more out of it than usual. So I did just that. I ran away, I didn’t know for how long. I figured they would come look for me sooner or later. I would hope things would either cool down or my mom would meet me at the drug store with my things and we can get away together, but she never did” Henry says.

Mike’s eyebrows narrowed as if he was actually intrigued.

Henry continued on, “After a few days, I decided I had to go back home. When I started walking up the hill of my street, I heard loud sirens. Then I saw fire trucks and police cars speeding right past me. I thought, where can they be going? But I think deep down I knew. I walked up to what should’ve been my home. I found the place burned down. Tried to go and get a closer look but the officer wouldn’t let me through. I overheard a firefighter say there were two victims, an adult male and female. He said it looks like there was gasoline thrown around the house and a cigarette lit right by the male victim. And ran and cried. I cried every night for the next few years. I eventually started cleaning windows and shining shoes but often shoed away. I get by on scraps from the dump by the restaurants at night. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. Sometimes, I wish I had stayed, maybe I could’ve saved her or maybe joined her” Henry says in a somber tone.

Mike’s eyes were wide in disbelief. His jaw opened briefly but quickly recognizes and adjusts himself.

"Well...uh, wow! That is an amazing story Henry. You've manage to survive on your own for this long. I can't even imagine what that must've been like. Well, I can't wait to dig in and follow you through your journey."

Mike almost seems sympathetic towards Henry. He quickly gets up and cuts the camera and walks back to Henry.

"Wow, sir. You are gold! This is a great start to the show. I can't believe it, you're like a triumph movie waiting to happen. I can see it now. Young boy from a broken family, runs away from home to find a well-to-do stranger years later to give him his second chance at succeeding in life. This is the type of stuff that wins awards" Mike says to him.

Henry gives Mike a smile as it's the closest thing he's gotten to a compliment since his mother. And even more tears start running down his face, but these were tears of joy.

"So you used to shine shoes, huh? Well I have a cobbler that I used to go to. He used to fix, repair, and sometimes make his own shoes. Carpal tunnel put a damper on his business. But I'm sure if he trained you, he can run the business side of things and you'll have a steady job for awhile. How does that sound?" Mike says to Henry.

Henry's eyes lit up. Mike may be selfish in the way he's trying to help Henry. But it's still help that Henry wanted. And not to go unnoticed, there was a brief moment during Henry's story where Mike seemed almost compassionate towards him. He didn't even say a word to interrupt Henry as he was speaking. Maybe there was hope for Mike yet. 

Mike turns the camera back on, ready to explain what he had just told Henry but on film this time around.

Mike has a huge smile from ear to ear as he turns towards Henry and says, "Get ready Henry, here comes your Second Chance."

For the first time in forever, Henry feels hope. Not only for himself but for Mike. It's almost as if he just peeled back a superficial layer of him. That maybe with the next few stories of people that Mike will hear, more layers will peel off and show a much warmer side of him. And just maybe he'll show some redeeming qualities that's usually covered up by his superficial side.

Henry then tells Mike with a hopeful smile, "Your second chance is coming too."