Last night, I was really jumpy at work (too much caffeine maybe). Then this YOUNG, skeleton of guy came in. The only time that I've seen eyes that red was in people who had suffered head injury. He seemed wired and was asking for food. I work in a hotel - the only food available to guests in the middle of the night is the junk in the vending machine. The hotel has an adjacent restaurant, but it had closed hours before and I don't have access to the kitchen. He seemed so desperate and he had a little dog with him. He must have known he scared me because he apologized for "talking to me" and ran out. I watched him for a bit and he tried to tear apart the ashtray outside (it's screwed shut). The episode did upset me - the depth and profundity of his desperation was both scary and heart-breaking.
There was food in an employee fridge that I might have offered him. I didn't because 1) He scared me; 2) I've been warned that if you give the homeless help from behind the front desk, they'll be back, probably in the morning, when the manager is there. When they get dejected there, they'll haunt the place at night.
I feel torn between feeling unfeeling and feeling the reality that I am alone there at night. I don't want to invite trouble . . . or feed the possibility of it.