Oneonta, NY has a vibrant nightlife with more than 10 downtown bars serving two colleges. When the bars close, people have to find a way home. That’s where we come in, standing outside the bars with our car and a “free ride” sign. Our church does this
every weekend during the school year, and let me tell you, the need for what we do is especially evident after closing time--as was clearly seen on September 25th when we got 43 people home safe.
I want to write a special article about what happened that night because I think these events epitomize everything that we’re trying to do. Additionally, I want to shine a light on just how much need there is at this time of night, primarily because I feel like it’s at a time when most community members who are equipped to meet such needs are, well, sleeping, and therefore, uninformed about what Oneonta is really like after last call.
You’ll Find People Passed Out
We spotted a young man passed out in front of
Oneonta Hots, abandoned by his friends. Luckily, there was another couple (making out in the ally) who saw the man at the same time we did, and one of them just happened to be an EMT. The four of us approached the man and the EMT took control of the situation by waking him up and helping him to his feet. She then kept asking him a series of direct questions, attempting to ascertain who he was and where he lived.
From the get go, it was clear that he didn’t want any help, much less a ride home. Yet, he clearly needed it because he completely lacked the ability to give a straight answer. The four of us stuck with him and even tried calling his friends using his cell phone, which seemed like the right thing to do. Although, at times, our presence only seemed to aggravate him.
As we worked with him, it became clear that he was a danger to others as well as himself. He mistook a group inside the restaurant for being people that he knew, and proceeded to pound on the windows and yell at them. The group had to sneak out the side entrance. When the young man saw this he followed the group to their car. They sped off and he gave chase, catching up to them at a stoplight. He then harassed the group while in their car by yelling at them and hitting the vehicle. They then drove off and he gave chase for a block before giving up.
We caught up to him and tried to calm him down. His emotions kept fluctuating wildly. One minute he would get in our faces and act like he wanted to harm us, and the next minute he was wanting to sit down and have a heart-to-heart conversation. After 20 long minutes of dealing with him, a car pulled up with someone that appeared to know him. Thinking that they would take responsibility of this inebriated young man, I then headed back to my car in order to pick up a person that just called me for a ride home.
And Emotionally Distraught Walkers
On my way to the car I passed two college girls who both looked sad and hurt, especially one girl who was crying. I introduced myself and offered them a ride. They accepted and seemed appreciative. As I gave them a ride the crying girl continued to cry even more while her friend comforted her.
Before I got to their apartment, I told them that I was a pastor and that I could pray for them if they would like. They were touched by the offer and gladly took me up on it. This unexpected act of kindness caused the girl to cry even more, only this time, there were tears of joy mixed in. Although, for me, praying for the crying girl proved to be a challenge, due in part because I'm not versed in Catholicism.
After she said I could pray for her, she immediately asked me, “What prayer should I say?” and “Give me guidance” (to a situation of which I knew nothing about). I was able to work through this by asking her about her predicament and then clarifying that I was actually going to pray for her (not give her something to pray). I also told her that I would give her guidance in my prayer. I then got to pray for her and her friend. She sobbed the whole time. At the end of it, she told me that it was “a beautiful prayer.”
And Even Fires
With the two friends dropped off safe and sound, I then went to Oneonta’s Center City neighborhood to pick up the gentleman who originally called me for a ride. That’s when I spotted something dangerous: a couch set on fire in the middle of Center Street. It was a strange sight to see and it made me feel like I was in the middle of an urban riot. My new passenger called the fire department and we stuck around long enough to make sure that someone was actually attending to it.
You’ll Find Opportunities to Educate the Intoxicated
We then went back downtown and pulled up to Sal’s. As we were exiting the car, a young man with his girlfriend couldn’t believe his luck because he was JUST telling her about us and how we offer people breathalyzer tests (she didn’t believe him). After telling me this, I replied how I believe that God likes to work out situations like this. The young man then asked me if I could test his girlfriend’s BAC level, I agreed to. Before taking the test, the girl told me that she felt good enough to drive (she might have been planning to do so). To her surprise, she blew a .10 (a DWI is .08). They thanked us for the service and left with every intention not to drive home drunk.
And Encounter the Same Passed Out People
And that’s when we spotted the young man from earlier in the night who had passed out at Oneonta Hots. This time he was alone and walking clumsily down the sidewalk. I pulled up next to him and asked if he was ok and needed a ride. He didn’t seem to recognize me and brushed away my offer.
I knew from trying to help him earlier that convincing him that he needed help was a lost cause because he couldn’t understand what was going on (yet his pride was intact). Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to just follow him home in order to keep an eye on him. Sure enough, two blocks later and the guy passes out on the street corner.
I knew that this young man needed somebody to shut down his stubborn refusal for help and to just put him in the car and take him home. Therefore, for this time around I called the police. They came, woke him up, and began asking him basic questions like my EMT friend did earlier. They were getting the same results. The guy was simply too drunk to recall his home address, and it didn’t help that he didn’t have any current ID on him. The officer kept telling the young man that “If he couldn’t simply tell him where he lived then he’d have to arrest him and take him to the hospital.” Yet, despite this clear ultimatum, he still couldn’t produce an address.
I don’t know how that situation turned out. It was about this time when we left, knowing that the police were plenty capable of dealing with him.
You’ll Find People With Car Problems
Garland and I then got back in the car and pointed it home, thinking we’d call it a night. But our night wasn’t over. We spotted a man looking lost in front of the parking garage. We asked if he needed any help and he directed me to his friends who needed assistance; three college girls stranded in a car with a dead battery.
We pulled up to their car, popped the hood, and hooked up our jumper cables. As we waited for the battery to charge I passed out bottled water to the girls who clearly looked exasperated. They appreciated the gift and we talked with them. It turned out that one of the girls knew us because we had given her a ride once before. Eventually, the car started. They were ecstatic and thanked us like a thousand times.
After all of that, we finally went home. I ended up hitting my pillow at 5am. It was later than I would have liked, but I fell asleep feeling good, knowing that we made such a wonderful impact.
And People Urinating in Full View of the Public
Of course, these stories only represent a portion of the rides we gave that night and the needs we encountered. In addition to the needs for rides, I want to inform my community about a need for bathrooms once the bars close at 2am. I saw a man pee on the retaining wall of the Methodist Church. I saw two girls slip behind a bush on a residential property off Center Street in order to relieve themselves. And Garland told me that he witnessed a girl who was so brazen that she actually stripped down and relieved herself right in front of Tino’s Pizza (directly on Tino’s to be technical about it). These scenarios are par for the course when all 10 bars close and only 2 bathrooms are left open to serve the entire downtown.
In the past, our church addressed this need by
cleaning the urine out of the parking garage stairwells. Although, we may have found a better way to meet this need that coincides with
our plan to expand the free ride service.
Stay connected with us to find out more details about this.
As you can see, the needs we run into every weekend as we serve Oneonta’s nightlife are many, and they’re far more than what we can meet on our own. Therefore, we want to expand what we do and we need your help to do it:
http://donate.theredemptionmovement.org/free-ride-oneonta
This is just one of the more than 40 times that we’ve gone out to give rides. We post a report of each night on our blog.
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