An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

When the holiday season was over, I lost my job at the
deli. Paul moved to a girlfriend’s place, and I couldn’t
afford to rent the room we had shared. I moved to a
cheap Tenderloin hotel on Turk Street where I paid
thirty dollars a month rent. I often went to St. Anthony’s
for lunch and the Anchor Rescue Mission for
dinner. St. Anthony’s was a big cafeteria style place
frequented by many bums and winos. The Anchor
Rescue Mission was run by black Christian women in
a storefront. They made everyone listen to a sermon
and sing hymns before dinner. The good food they
served made it worth it.
I panhandled on Market Street and went to a
commune in the Haight to see friends with pot and
acid. Around midnight, a couple of people went to a
donut shop and got huge bags of free day old donuts
that we quickly devoured.
I got a notice from the draft board to report for
an induction exam. I didn’t bathe, shave or change
clothes for a week. The night before the exam, I stayed
up all night at the commune on acid. The next morning,
I took a bus to the induction center in Oakland.
A sergeant told us to fill out the forms and not
to check anything wrong with us that we could not
get a doctor’s verification for in two weeks. Not being
able to afford a doctor, I didn’t check anything, but
made a note that I had many things wrong that I
didn’t check. I went through the physical exam wearing
brown plaid boxer shorts and engineer boots.
When they wanted to take a blood test, I made a scene
22