Well folks, I've been asked to tell a little about HOBOS to a group of people who have no real idea, so I'm sending what I decided to write up to see what you're Ideas on this are! The more I try to live in a self imposed retirement, the more that songs about train riding become favorites, and it seems that every train whistle, or passing train causes me to experience a prolonged mournful longing for a life I am no longer able to physically enjoy. And still I am asked to tell more people about Hobos, as if I am a better authority than those of the culture still living on the road today!

What a hobo looks like: To begin with, there is no real way to visually tell who a hobo is, there are no specific uniforms, or style of dress. No secret hand signs, or greetings, no membership cards, and contrary to most police attitudes, no organized gangs. This Idea come from an attitude called "Pass The Buck", where a police officer cannot figure out a conclusion to a crime, so the police officer finds a Hobo to blame. And where a Hobo is concerned, migratory in activities, and habits, they are still predictable to return to places and areas they deem comfortable with a frequency. With only a past history of employment, they return to areas they are used to, the police know this and so, with that predictability, they haunt areas that Hobos frequent. Looking for someone who fits the description of the criminal suspect the police cannot otherwise find. The Hobo, having no community ties in the town, has no physical proof of his travels, and past places of residence, and therefore is an easy scapegoat to blame for what local crime the police cannot otherwise solve. The traveling and working man/woman know each other by sight and nickname from past experience of travel, work, and residence of locales. Life habits become character traits, which are the fingerprints of each Hobo encountered. There are many eccentricities of each Hobo that cause each one to be identified in the Hobos dress, name, way of living, and what friends he/she surrounds themselves with, or if they are loners.

Head gear: Ball Caps permeate through out the entire Hobo Culture; some may be from certain Football, Basketball, or Baseball Teams that a Hobo is a fan of. Other caps can be of Industry, or Industrial Companies that the Hobo is seasonally employed by. Other caps may be showing Cities, or States the Hobo spends their winters in, and still other caps have no denotation at all. These can be Military Caps, Welders Caps, "Boonie Hats", Corn stripes, or Toboggans, still, like the Native American, the Hobos hat tells something about him/her.

Clothing: Clothes can be of any style, but generally consists of long-sleeved shirts, and denim pants, good denim pants are needed because the work and travel of the Hobo is rough, easily destroying clothing not made for the job. Too many attendants at the local mission are used to locals wearing what ever pants are given, and will not even try to understand the Hobo looking for the rough and tough pants that will endure a working punishment, and last for at least a year. They are used to most accepting what ever scraps are given, so they cannot fathom one discriminating over clothing. Another thing that mission attendants cannot understand is the Hobo wanting to wash his/her clothes. It is inconceivable to them that someone living "outside" would want to take care of their property. The mission attendant is too used to folks preferring no responsibilities, that they cannot fathom someone wanting such. In fact the mission attendant has been brainwashed by an administration with a "Big Brother" attitude, which are too used to seeing folks existing as a nameless, faceless number in a crowd. And are not used to anyone wanting to be an individual, so the Hobo is the freak of nature to the mission attendant.

Foot wear: There is no specific kind of footwear that can be called "Hobo Shoes", or "Hobo Boots", some wear work boots, some wear tennis shoes, some wear military dress shoes, some wear mountain climbing shoes. Most will find footwear that will last through the most extreme punishment, so if the boots/shoes cost $$, or not it is up to the individual to determine what will be obtained, and how. A big benefit to the Hobo is the "Military Stand Down", where the Army gathers to redistribute many goods to veterans. At this activity a Hobo can replenish his/her living goods, boot, clothes, underwear, socks, coats, gloves, sleeping bags, food, etc. At a time, and in a culture that constantly tries to make its' finances "go the extra mileage", this is a better benefit than getting a Federal Tax Return, and will last much longer. Usually, at a local jungle, Hobos will group together and decide, of what they have gathered at the Stand Down, what each personally wants to keep, and what to pass on to others in the culture.

A grand sense of family permeates the Hobo Culture, and in that idea is the constant activity of giving unto others. This constant is ingrained in their minds by a street quote-"what goes around, comes around", and most Hobos will remember the good done to the by others of the family/culture. And when they are "flush", they will return the favor, maybe not directly, but eventually it will return to the giver. Although the use of a sleeping bag may appear self explanatory, it serves several functions in a Hobos life. As a bed, as a couch, as a worktable, as a seat, it can just be used to keep warm with, most will be military issue and will definitely show signs of heavy use, and travel.

Back Packs: In older days a backpack was called a bindle, and it is a staple of the Hobos life, and will carry extra clothes, food, eating utensils, cooking utensils, possibly a small stove, (although most hobos will opt for building a small fire, unless they are on the run, then they will eat cold). This container also holds their working tools, or "traveling trade", and may contain pliers, screwdriver, knife, razorblades, needles and thread, denim material, leather or deerskin.

Traveling Intelligence: Traveling Intelligence is an item most hobos try to keep in their head; this might not always be possible (especially in this day and age). Mostly Traveling Intelligence revolves around the mode of transportation that the Hobo uses to get from Point-A, to Point-B. This usually is by a freight train, but also includes interstate bus, or hitchhiking so to say a hobo only travels by freight train is totally erroneous. For independence of life, enjoyment of freedom, and self-reliance in caring for ones' self and ones' personal finances is the basic essence of the Hobos way of life. In actual physical points of traveling, the intelligence begins with a total respect for freight trains, seeing that it is hundreds of thousands of tons of unrelentlessness, and mindless, or heartless steel. Totally having no feelings for human life, nor prejudice toward who ever it may kill, it is a machine that takes on the personality, and attitude of its' operator. And if the operator/engineer has a hate directed toward Hobos, then the train will act accordingly! Older Hobos may not always use past experience, but may also be armed with a railroad scanner, in the past a hobo could ask and get good direct information as to whatever train they might be wanting to travel on going to, or near their destination. This may not be an option in this age; most Hobos agree that being out of sight is best for catching a train. Therefore scouting a train yard, and listening to a scanner for train numbers, then deciphering the cryptic information to tell where the train is, and its' departure time, and destination is very reminiscent of a military reconnaissance operation. While in transit, keep in mind that you are a guest (uninvited) on the freight train you are riding, and anything you do that is otherwise asinine, and could effect the safety of your train must be avoided. If you feel this does not apply to you, please consider, In all but 16 freight train derailments in the past 50 years were caused by Dumb Hobos monkeying around.

Evading Railroad Police: Evading Railroad Police has never been a sure thing, an older Hobo once told me " the bull ain't caught you because he didn't want to catch you". The easiest way I know of to avoid Railroad Police is don't drink alcoholic beverages while waiting to catch out. A person takes too many life threatening chances when they are alcoholically impaired, I've seen too many folks get "Sliced and Diced" after trying to catch when they are inebriated. Too many yard employees have had to clean up the tracks after a drunk hobo has gotten himself/herself killed by a moving train. For your protection (believe it or not) they will call the Railroad Police when they see someone drinking near the train yard. The best idea here is to catch out sober, and celebrate after the train is rolling. The old saying "Patience is a Virtue" is not too far off the mark, when scoping the yard to find a ride a person can draw a lot of attention to his/her self because most are in a hurry to get going. A problem with this is the fidgety acting, and pacing around also draws a lot of attention to yourself when around a train yard. It's a hard thing to do, training yourself to be patient while waiting near a train yard, but the main thought here is an old Military Discipline, "Nothing is more evident than a moving object". While waiting outside of the train yard, watch the activity, and try to scan the extent of the yard, you may be able to find an area away from too much activity that will be easier for you to access your train. Also in an area of low activity you will be less likely to be spotted by, or called into a railroad police officer. When all is said and done, and you still end up getting kicked off the yard, think of coming back at another time, it might be that the railroad police officer is doing you a favor!

How do Hobos get Work/Money? In almost every town there is a corner where people catch out work, most hobos have been working a migratory labor route for years, they are well aware of when and where seasonal work crops up. As always, planned travel does not work quite the way most want it to go, and most Hobos have experienced this, therefore they have had to seek out labor in areas that they would not otherwise stop in. Because of this they have established work corners in various towns across the continent, this also allows hobos who do not migrate with the seasons to have an area to replenish their road funds. Seasonal employment has existed since the founding of this country, most of it is centered on agricultural work. The best way to find out about this kind of work is to contact the Archer Daniels Midland Company. Another way most hobos will get work is to go to day labor offices, like Labor Ready, which has offices in almost every major town in the nation. The offices pay daily, and while $40 to$60 a day is not top dollar, it is still not anything to laugh at, especially when your wallet is full, of dust and lint.

Families: A big thing that has been asked of me over the years is do Hobos have families? Everyone comes from a mother and father, and some how they are related to someone somewhere, the problem with this is sometime neither of the parents have learned to how to love their children. Basically they are full of cold emotions, and therefore displace, or throw away their children, and so in a manner of speaking, they hit the road, many go to the big cities and fall prey to a destructive sub-culture that permeates in these areas. Some, however, have a spirit of wanderlust about them, and begin hitchhiking around the country, to a degree they find a loose knit family with the hitchhikers they encounter around the country. But many fall prey to the many greedy opportunists that follow, and feed upon hitchhikers, but some of them find the hobos. Much like these kids, hobos come from a family somewhere, and many of them have a family they return to see from time to time. Because hobos cross paths with each other so often, or travel the same routes they each become the others' brothers and sisters, and form their self-styled family bonds. Because Hobos all share the same lifestyle, mode of travel, and dangers- the hobo family bonds, and love become stronger than most blood family bonds. Because they share everything with each other, they adopt those who have none, and kids that are thrown away by their own family find the Hobo Family highly accepting of them. So what if the kid is not college material, so what is the kid has a lot of body piercings or tattoos, so what is he/she smokes marijuana? If he/she has decided not to follow a norm or standard in their hometown life, then they are of the desire to be an individual, or an outlaw! A friend of mine, Just Jim (R.I.P.) once told me "hobos are the last of the outlaws", and because of that the hobo family still inspires imagination, creativity, and independence. It is this kind of lifestyle I grew up with, and eventually hit the road with, it is this kind of lifestyle most kids find appealing, it is this kind of family most want to belong to. Because most Hobos have little, or no monetarily valuable possessions, the adopted kinships they have with other Hobos is so much more precious. And so hand made items abound among the Hobo Family, it is a throw back to a time when gifts could not easily be bought, but they could easily be made. And when one Hobo dies, though the rest of the U.S. could care less, the entire Hobo family feels the pain nation-wide.

What's the appeal of Hobo Life? So what appeal to this kind of life is there really?, to the neo-phyte, imagine a way of life where you are not bound by time schedules, home owner bill, job expectations, the IRS, you can live where you want, sleep where you want, travel wherever you want as long as its' in the continental US and Canada. Never pay a travel fare unless you want to, never pay rent, electric, gas, water, or cable bills, never pay taxes, and see places in the US and Canada others only see in the movies, or in a magazine. Sound like the lifestyle of Bill Gates, or Donald Trump?, well hundreds of folks live that kind of life every day, in fact that kind of life/culture has been going on since just after Americas' Civil War. A lifestyle/culture so sweet, so addictive, so seductive, so intoxicating, that those of us who retire after 20, 30, even 40 years of are never really free of it. Because Lady Freedom has gotten too far in our blood to gotten rid of her completely. Freedom, complete freedom, and the ability to pursue that ultimate free life, and the vehicle to propel you ion such a quest, and a constitutionally base right to free movement. It's truly a drug, a greasy steely drug that once it gets in your blood it's there for good, and no matte how you've retired, no matter how much you deny it, you'll never be free of it. Whenever you hear a train whistle, whenever you see a moving train, or just train cars, or even train tracks, that longing in your heart will tug at you so tight you'll realize that you're addicted for life!