Anglais Slow descent into hell'

A time correspondent is reporting on the nation's destitute. He has met one of them washing in a public rest-room.

George, 28, is a stocky. round-faced former hight school basketball star who once made a living as a construction worker. But after he lost his job just over a year ago, his wife kicked him out of the house. For a few weeks he lived on the couches of friends, but the friendships soon wore thin. Since then he has been on the street starting from scratch and looking for a job. " I got to get my life back " George says after rinsing his face for the fourth time. He begins brushing his teeth with his forefinger. " If I don't stay clean " he mutters, " the world ain't even going to look me in the face. I just couldn't take that "

George lives in a world where time is meaningless and it's possible to go months without being touched by anyone but a thug. Lack of sleep, food or conversation breeds confusion and depression. He feels himself slipping but struggles to remember what he once had and to figure out bow to get it back. He rarely drinks alcohol and keeps his pants and red shirt meticulously clean. Underneath, he wears two other shirts to fight off the cold, and he sleeps with his large hands buried deep within his coat pockets.

Last fall he held a job for six weeks at a pizza joint, making $3.65 an hour clearing tables. Before work, he would take off two of his three shirts and hide them in an alley. It pleases him that no one knew he was homeless. Says George: " Sure I could have spent that money on some good drink or food but you gotta suffer to save. You gotta have money to get out of here and I gotta get out of here. " Some days he was scolded for eating too much of the food. He often worked without sleep and with no alarm clock to wake him from the subways or abandoned tenements, he missed several days and was dinally fired. He observes, " Can't get no job without a home, and you can't get a home without a job. They take one and you lose both. "

George had $64 tucked in this pocket on the evening he was beaten senseless in an alley near the continental trailways station. " Those damn chumps" he says gritting his teeth, " took every goddam penny. I'm gonna kill'em. " Violence is a constant threat to the homeless. It's only a matter of time before newcomers are beaten, robbed or raped. The young prey on the old, the big on the small, and groups attack lonely individuals in the back alleys and subway tunnels. After it's over, there is no one to tell about the pain, nothing to do but walk away.

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