Homeless, Hopeless

Being a city boy, I suppose I see a homeless person every day.

And Besides what I hear and see on the news, this is most devastating thing I see all day…and how long depends on how long the red light is. Well, it’s the most “outwardly devastating” thing I see all day, unless folks at work are putting up a grand facade.

And every moment before I make eye contact, I ask myself the same question, “Am I going to give today?” Most of the time I avoid them. I’ll keep looking forward. Or I’ll scoot up my car beyond the point of having them look dead me. Or move purposely several lanes over to gain distance.

Long story short, I ignore them. Flat out. And I rarely regret it, until lately…just ’cause.

[flashback music] I remember being little and seeing them. I noticed that sometimes my parents gave, sometimes not. Sometimes I even offered my own $$, but usually my parents told me to keep it to myself. When I asked why, they told me that ‘we shouldn’t give them the opportunity to spend it on drugs/alcohol’. Or I was told, “they have places to go and get help”.

Every time we get to ‘that corner’. We evaluate them from our cars. If they can spark the right emotions, we tend to give. Some people give to mothers. Some give to veterans. Some to the handicap. Some to those with funny signs <rolls eyes>[Click and go to "2:20"]. And it’s a shame that we determine that some homeless people are more deserving than others. I’ll confess that I see a few of them that look ‘just fine’, by my terms.

But ‘wtf’ would I know. I believe I know enough that if I was kicked to the curb today, I’d be able to get by. I definitely wouldn’t look for a piece of cardboard and a marker. But that’s me. I know what to do. I know how to obtain a birth certificate and social security card and clean myself up and get a card. But do they know? I wonder what leads to this trend of desperation from the homeless, versus taking some initiative. But who am I to judge. The percentage of homeless actually on a corner begging is a small percentage of the greater problem. The ones on the curb is the tip of the iceberg.

It seems that our apathy of the homeless is justified by us living the American Way.

The American Way calls for those who are helpless to find their own way.

The American Way calls for those who are helpless to ‘pick themselves up by their bootstraps’.

The American Way seems to think, “If you worked hard enough in the first place, this wouldn’t happen to you.”

Those sentiments aren’t anything new. People been saying that. America isn’t known for having apathy for the helpless, unless enough people are helpless or ‘certain people’ are helpless.

Regardless of what’s done to help to homeless by the government, I conclude that I still have an obligation as a citizen and as a Christian. I suppose I’ll continue to give what I can… the change in my cup holder, the occasional ‘loose’ dollar bill I have,

From there, the responsibility is theirs I suppose. There’s only so much I can do before the light turns green. My dollar and change don’t help them long term. In most cases, these homeless folk need to be socialized and rehabilitated. However, that’s not really in the American Way either. Hobos stay Hobos. Crooks stay Crooks. Hoes stay Hoes. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. We write each other off way too easy…

~ by justinfication on July 19, 2008.