kestrel

kestrel
2022-10-07 19:02:29 (UTC)
image for People Come And Go

People Come And Go

Personal entry follows.

To sum things up, one of the other interns left suddenly, we don't know why, and he left a bunch of personal belongings here at the institute. There's a wide amount of speculation as to why he left, but no clear answers. Things only became stranger when we found what he left behind.

When we opened a duffel bag he'd left in our trash pile, we uncovered a number of books and some personal effects I'd expected he would want to keep. He's a military veteran, and we found his old company badges (the kind of embroidered patches that stick with hook-n-loop/velcro to one's uniform), an old military ID, and even a couple military medals. We also found one of his pet's dog collars, which I assume was a keepsake and/or he was holding on to it until he'd have a chance to bring his dog out here.

That was a couple days ago. Today, another intern and I surveyed his tent site and found all the things he'd abandoned there. So he had been rained-out of his tent about a month ago or longer, and had since moved into a cabin. Though he had plenty of time and (I assume) opportunity to clean things up since then, to my dismay he simply turned a tarp over it.

The intern and I were left to clean things up (we have an event coming up Monday next week!), and the guy's belongings left us with a number of other questions, and more uncertainty. The attached photo provides some details (and this I'll share with the property manager), but we found his sleeping bag and inflatable mattress, clothes, food, leftover medications, and a fair amount of garbage. Mostly, the garbage consisted of hard liquor bottles.

When the guy left, he was vague about the circumstances. He said he needed to go away for a while; he didn't know when he'd be back or if he'd be back. The phone call itself was after 9pm, definitely past my usual bedtime. I learned later from another intern that he had a date with a woman in town that same evening. When he rang, I don't know if he was back here at the institute, or elsewhere. I do know he showed up on-site early the next morning before the workday started. I thought he was going up there to clean up his tent, which is why I didn't bother to check out his tent site until days later.

There have been what I'd consider to be wild speculations as to the reasons for his skipping town. I'd rather not record them here - since it's all mere guesses - though none of them are savory and the majority of them revolve around the idea that he needs to lie low for a while. Our imaginations truly have taken the best of our faculties on this one. In a way it can't be helped, since it's such an unusual situation. As bad as things might be, I don't think it would be fair to assume we're right on any of it.

I'll be reporting back to the manager here next week, and advising that if this guy shows up again, he ought not be permitted back as an intern. It's all pretty sad. I think the guy needs help, and I hope he eventually receives the help he needs.




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