Life at Tommie's Café

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

Kelly Van Fossen is simply one of the most gracious people I have ever met. During Tax Season, you'll find people begin to line up outside the Livermore Public Library at 5:30 in the morning. They're here to sign up to have their taxes done and waiting to get inside out of the freezing cold March and April morning air.

The Livermore Public Library opens at 10AM, but most of them know by now that Tommie's Café, if you look just to the right of LPL's main entrance, opens at 7AM. Ruth, the Tax Volunteer in Chief, will often show up right after Kelly does at 6:30 and Kelly will let everyone in and out of the bitterly cold weather.

Kelly's very, very sensitive to this need and shows a great deal of compassion for these people. She'll play Ruth's surrogate, answering questions on how things work with the volunteers who assist those in need of having their taxes done.

People are often surprised there is a Café attached to the Livermore Public Library. I hear it all the time, people will just make these comments of how great an idea it was to put this shop here.

The regulars are an interesting lot. Yvonne, the former Ballet Dancer and ethereal flower child. Pat, Yvonne's pet man, who has this James Earl Jones voice, intense charisma and always something interesting on his mind. That's not a dig. The man is never boring to chat with. Maybe that's why he always seems to have these beautiful women around him, usually from distant, exotic places.

My good friend Joe shows up most mornings, buys me a cup of coffee or five, and we chat about life, love and family. Joe's one of those men of Italian extraction that would fit well into a Mario Puzo Novel. His sensibilities about honour and duty to family are instantly recognizable once he begins explaining them.

Kelly named a sandwich after Tish. The Delicious Tish has pesto, tomato, egg and mozzarella cheese. She comes in often and knows just about everyone in town. You'd be hard pressed to name a name in Livermore she hasn't met at some point, and she's one of those people who you want to meet for a variety of reasons.

Then there's the walking ladies. This group of ladies show up every Friday like clockwork. They park their cars in the lot, walk their rout, and return to spend time here at Tommie's chatting about this and that... and adopting the creepy homeless guy that sits at the end of the counter, who they seem to have taken an interest in. Kelly loves them. It's Friday and Kelly loves Friday! When the Walking Ladies show up, her day is half over and she can begin the downward slide into the weekend and a well deserve break.

Behind the counter are Jaime, Jane and Marci. Between them, you'll find stalwart, explosive fire, Super Woman, and Too Cute for Words... I'll let you figure out which is which... but know this, each of them share those qualities... as well as Kelly's graciousness and generosity. Count in Kelly, they make the atmosphere of Tommie's Café into one that is not just a friendly place, but a comfortable place, a welcoming place. This is a place where valuable friends can be made. I've made more than a few here, myself.

Why am I talking about a Cafe in a blog about homelessness..? Because, my friends, it's the only business that I, as a homeless man, have felt truly welcome. Kelly will give everyone a chance, and does! Oh, there are a lot of stories about things that have happened here which will never be spoken of except between trusted friends, but I'll say this: Kelly and her friends have seen a lot and managed to keep it from ever being a problem.

John and Ricky are two guys who get why all this works. Remember I was talking about behaviour? Courteous Behaviour is why John and Ricky are two homeless guys who are in the good graces of Kelly and her staff. Ricky, especially, but John as well have become protective of this place. Keeping people informed of what is and isn't acceptable is something both of them are keenly aware of.

Keep this in mind when thinking of Tommie's. It's a private business attached to a very public facility. There is nothing more Public than a Publicly Owned Public Library, and the Livermore Public Library is no exception. I've never heard of anyone being banished from it, so it attracts all kinds. Then there's the fact that Livermorons love their library like no other community I've ever heard of.

If you are homeless, and walk into Tommie's good behaviour will get you respect. A history of good behaviour will get you trust. That's true for everyone everywhere whenever dealing with others. It's one of the things the lion's share of the homeless in Livermore do not seem to understand, and need to learn.

Kelly and the rest of the staff and regulars at Tommie's have been some of my best teachers in the past months. And this Almond Rocca Mocca isn't bad either...