Decompression Session with Jerry

I was still in a crummy mood today until I met Jerry. Let me tell you about Jerry. He's part Polynesian, part Iroquois Indian, part Vietnam Vet and part drifter and he lives quite comfortably in a small truck camper in the middle of a cold, empty warehouse.

Jerry speaks 3 languages (French, German and Spanish) and loves to salvage scrap technology like old computers, printers and monitors and make something useful out them again. Best of all, Jerry, a man with a bigger heart than all the riches in the world, knows that life is a series of chapters, some written during the time of duress and sorrow and others dazzling with prosperity and hope.

I got to know Jerry on assignment today. He works as a security guard for a recycling facility. The job suits him well. He says that he's never bought new before and I can believe it. He took one look at some of my video equipment and offered cheaper (and recycled) alternatives to tripod stands, Arri lights and advice on how to correctly wrap cords.

Unfortunately, there was no time to delve deeper into Jerry's compassionate past but in the short time that I worked with him, I marveled at his nomadic philosophies about life. Of course, Jerry's wanderlust has brought him around the world and back again living for several weeks at a time to absorb the culture of each country.

I'm sure if Jerry can make a lonely camper his home, he finds no problem doing the same thousands of miles away in strange lands. Because, the reality is that home is not really a place, but a feeling deep inside us that accompanies us wherever we feel most at peace.