Jesse: He Conned Me But That’s OK

On his Facebook page, SR photog bud Jesse Tinsley posts: “A 60-something homeless guy asked me for a dollar to buy coffee. I gave him one of the two dollars I had and we chatted. He said he lived at Truth Ministries, a downtown shelter. He gets a shower and a meal there. He doesn’t go to Union Gospel Mission because he would have to be drug tested and he’s always positive for THC from smoking weed, which helps with his PTSD and depression. I asked him if he was in the military and he said he was in Vietnam but had PTSD long before because his dad sexually abused him until he was 12 when he ran away and lived on the streets. He said Jesus was his friend now and he wanted to start his own ministry for the homeless. He said he had a dream and God showed him Heaven and the streets of gold. We said goodbye and he wandered off. Later, he came back and we chatted again. He said “I just bought a beer. Sorry I conned you.” I gave him my other dollar, in case he still wanted coffee.