The Stigma of Being Homeless
Topic: Politics
I met a homeless guy at the library . It made me sad, especially since he was about as old as I am. It was pretty depressing for me to see him carrying a huge duffel bag with just about everything he owns in it, and I could have cried right there when he told me he had to return to the place he was staying by 6pm.

Later, as I was walking home, I saw a huge billboard with a picture of a sad looking child encouraging people to give money for the victims of the Tsunami. That bothered me. I do agree that what happened over in Southeast Asia was tragic, and I think it is nice to have the rest of the world helping out.

It just bugs me that there aren’t any billboards about helping out the poor in our own country. No one’s doing telethons to help raise money for homeless Americans. Instead, they’re being accused of being lazy, drunk, and dirty.

I go into the public library downtown frequently, and there are plenty of homeless people, ranging in all sorts of ages, genders, races, and backgrounds. They probably just want a place to get out of the cold, and maybe forget about their situation for a while by escaping in a good book. Many times, I’ve heard the librarians, and sometimes even the “rent-a-cops” threatening to kick someone out if they decide to take a nap. Why not let them snooze for a while? They aren’t hurting anyone.

There have been many times when I’ve been out walking and have seen someone begging for a quarter. Many would yell at this individual to get a job. They’d accuse the beggar of just wanting it for booze or drugs.

I admit that I used to think this way, but I’ve come to realize that if they do want to by alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or the cup of coffee they claim to want, it’s really none of my business. If I can spare a quarter, I do. If not, I smile and wish the person a nice day. Besides, what I would’ve spent it on wouldn’t make me any better of a person than they are anyway.

Also, telling someone to get a job is much easier said than done. It’s not like there’s a magic employment fairy that waves a wand and sends people off into a world of financial bliss. Even finding a crappy minimum wage job is hard.

There may be factors that lead to the person’s homelessness, like a lay-off, or an injury. Maybe the person does have a job, but can barely even thrive on that because minimum wage is not enough to survive on.

It’s easier to accuse someone of being lazy, though, when you don’t know their story.

Sure, there are smaller groups that do what they can for the homeless in their community. Churches and groups like Food Not Bombs do their best to give people the things they have the right to, like a warm meal, a place to sleep, clothes, and a general sense of security.

As a whole, though, American society treats the less fortunate like crap. Quite frankly, it’s not fair at all.