How did they end up this way?
Now That I have moved out of the suburbs and into downtown Minneapolis, I have had many eye-opening experiences that are starting to change the way I think.
Not a day goes by where I don't see a homless person. On the drive home from work it is one on each corner of the freeway exit. They have shifts and days I 'm starting to notice. The Native in his forties, begging for cash is there saturdays afternoon. The black man in his 30's only want cash and smokes. The day I gave him a lighter, his face lit up like he won the lottery. He is there on weekday evenings and nights. The 50-60 year old vet is there Friday nights with his long hair with a simple sign. Vet- Please help!The rest seem to be various twenty something males that have signs begging for food or money. One of the males is particulary aggresive and will press his sign right up to your car. To be honest I never give this man money, he is to expectent of it.
Then there is the other various homeless people I see on a day-to-day basis. There is the old women in the downtown exits. She leans against the phone pole with closed eyes, wearing her winter jacket no matter the weather. She will not make eye contact with you, Is it to painful? There is the the lake street exit, various drugged up males in their 20's and thirties, begging for change, and the 40 year old woman, that would look like a soccer mom if it wasn't for her unwashed clothes and hair. I wonder where her life went wrong, Does she have children, or a family that she is to embarassed to turn to?
There are our resident homeless in the neighborhood also. The two men with their carts come around a few days a week to dig cans out of the trash. And the middle aged woman that sleeps in our lobby floor on rainy nights. We are supposed to call maintance to have her removed, but every time I walk around when returning late at night or leaving in the early morning, I can't help but think of the verse from the bible where Jesus says "Whatever you do unto the least of men, you do unto me". Would I have Jesus removed from my apartment lobby?
To be honest I used to think of homeless people as a group, as "those people". I never gave money or food, I often just thought to myself "get a damn job". But now that "these people" have become part of my everyday life, I am finally changing my ways. I think of them all as indiviuals, and want to know their name, their stories. What despair caused them to turn to a life on the streets? Yes I know that 99% of the time it is drugs or alcohol that puts people on the streets, their addictions taking over their lives. I just feel like it can't be that simple. What before that turned them to drugs and alcohol? I want to hear their stories for selfish reasons. 1) I am curious about things I know nothing of. 2) I want to be a listening ear, Not judging, just listening. 3) I want to know how to not end up that way.
I feel myself changing into a more compassionate being. A lot has to do with the neighborhood we live in. Yes the homeless can be a nuisance, the bring down property values, and raise drug traffic. But I feel like we have compassionate neighbors. People often leave clothes and shoes folded up or hung next to the dumpsters that our homeless "neighbors" frequent. My neighbors and we leave food things that are needed also. In actuality it may only be ourselve that we are helping. The feeling that we are in a small part making a diffence is often more fufilling and valuable then the hand-me-down clothes, the extra food, a buck here or there or bus fare that we give.