I was out for a quick morning errand today, and as I was getting close to my destination, I saw this old man who was practically skin and bones digging into the trashcan presumably looking for food. I actually see this scene played out nearly every morning when I workout because the trails I run go through the heart of the city and there are homeless everywhere under bridges, sleeping by the freeway, sleeping in doorways, begging at corners, just everywhere. So I turned my car around and I drove back and parked and walked over to him to give him the entire box of Nutri-Grain Bars I'd just purchased.
I know no one person can do it all, give all, and take care of everyone. I mean, if I stopped and gave every single person every single morning something, I'd have nothing for myself or would go bankrupt trying to keep up with that level of demand, but I find it sad above all else the way people sometimes talk about the homeless, as if they aren't even human beings. Think where your mind must be at, what your hunger level must be at, if you are up in the early morning digging through the trash for food and are willing to eat whatever you find in there despite what's been thrown on top of it. A homeless person isn't just someone who messed up their own lives and somehow "deserves" to be there. There are veterans, children, elderly, LGBTQ youth who've been thrown to the curb by family, those who got caught in the various financial crises, those with mental illness, those who don't have the luxury of family to fall back on, and the list goes on.
And trust me, I'm well aware there are scammers on street corners who beg for money. I know of a couple myself, and it is extremely rare that I will give money, but you can still donate time to a shelter or to just sit down and talk, food or drink (water, juice), etc, which is what I continue to do. Giving someone that little something can mean the difference from them being dehydrated or going hungry for the day, something we rarely have to think about. And I get it, I really do, you certainly work hard for your money and should spend it the way you want on whomever or whatever you want, but I also think it's in each of us to help someone else who may not yet or may never have the ability to help themselves the way you can right now. If you are one of the people chanting all lives matter...live up to that, and treat all people like they do actually matter. We like to think, oh, that could never be me, but I'm sure plenty of homeless people said the same thing at one point.
I know it sounds soap boxy, but I guess, all I would like, is if people just opened their hearts every once in a while to think about and help someone else. I've read and seen so many wonderful stories of things like barbers giving out free hair cuts to the homeless, or churches organizing blessing bags filled with food and desperately needed toiletries, or restaurants donating their leftovers to shelters, or towns installing boxes whereby communities fill the box at whim with food and blankets for anyone who needs it to take whenever, or I have friends who will walk some into grocery stores and say what do you need today man? We all have it in our power to make someone else's day and to treat every human being, no matter their circumstance, with kindness.
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