Day 3 Vegas Baby!

     After holding back tears I said my goodbye's to my mom and sisters and got dropped off at the St. George Shuttle. I talked to the manager and he let me work my way onto a vacancy. The deal was four hours got me a spot but he stopped me after two and bumped me up to the executive shuttle with free drinks and leather seats :) It pays to work hard. I pulled into the airport still with no plans and no direction. I made my way to the Las Vegas Strip where I made friends with a small band of Hobos. We got talking for about 30 minutes and they were as hospitable as the homeless could possibly be. They gave me some exclusive Vegas insight and let me know where there was a wall that had fallen over, that made a perfect place to sleep! I kept the invite in mind but kept on going. It didn't take long for me to realize that Vegas wasn't the place for me. Nobody I bumped into or sought out had a home or any work for me. So I tried panning for money in hopes of finding generous tourists. Now I have a question for you all, if you saw a 19 year old scruffy looking kid with a sign reading, "Don't let me turn into a Hobo!" would you throw me a buck or two? Maybe even your pocket change?? Well I didn't get as single penny. Thousands of people turned me down and a good 5% even talked to me! (After inducing the conversation through laughter) I came to the conclusion that I must have come off as a lazy scam artist, which is what I ended up starting to feel like. I think I'll save that promising tactic as a last resort.
     I spent the next morning and afternoon traveling to Freemont St. where I ended up really enjoying my stay. I was bombarded with friendliness as soon as I got there. Confused maybe? Keep reading. I stopped by a Greyhound bus station to see what the cost to get to California would be. I talked to the manager for awhile and he gave me a ride and a discounted price to San Bernadino, CA. Before he dropped me off he kept mentioning he could maybe give me a place to sleep. He dropped me off at the Salvation Army after I answered "no" to his question, "do you play around?" Freaking out? So was I.
     I got out and made my way to a soup line, or rather a cat food line, where my frantically running mind was subsided by Tim, a Jamaican homeless guy. We had lots of time to talk while we waited in line. He gave a good heads up for me to keep my guard up with all the gays around. He also introduced me to a little "hustle" I could use in my travels. Now I don't want any eyebrows being raised while reading this because the main thing I took from Tim was steer clear from the fags! But he let me know that guys looking for guys like me are not all that dangerous and will always compensate. Makes me shutter just to say that.
     I finished up my mystery meat and put Tim's knowledge to the test. First let me say that in my opinion, Freemont St. blows the strip out of the water. Unless your going for shopping, hit up Freemont St. it's really a lot of fun. So a guy approached me and I started off by simply not turning him down. We chit chatted and what worried me the most is my gaydar is down. I couldn't even tell this guy, or the Greyhound guy was gay. Now no homo or anything but I enjoyed his company. He bought me a beer while we walked and offered to smoke a joint :) He took me to dinner and even after I declined to go home with him, he still sent me on my way with 10 bucks. Pretty cool of him, almost made me feel bad for making my first successful hustle!
     But on the serious side I gotsta thinking. I've been raised with an LDS/Conservative outlook on life (which I cherish and love) but I've always looked at gays as outcasts and that those people just give themselves that title for the attention. I can't see how it's possible to be gay but now I realize that it is in fact, possible. I know it's a very controversial topic nowadays and since I'm going to California to the southern beaches, I would love to hear every ones opinion and thoughts.