It was Plato who said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”

     In the middle of this neglected community of scarred stucco and tan brick are the remains of broken washed-out plastic blue letters spelling

H O L L Y W O O D with the word “Club” hand-painted next to it in black over the sun-stained imprints left behind where the word V I D E O was once attached.

     Below a diverse cross-section of emotionally wounded urban nomads are lured to the blackened glass doors nervously smoking their cigarettes as they wait for them to be opened.

      These lost souls have learned first-hand that one misstep can lead you back to the devil’s doorstep

of the Hollywood Club where the strange are welcomed.