At around 9:45 a.m. I walked five minutes to a nearby donut shop to get myself breakfast before going to work. I had not eaten breakfast that morning at home and regretted the decision wholeheartedly. As I entered the shop, I instantly made my way over to the glass to pick out the best-looking ones. There were so many to choose from, but I did not want to be greedy so I only bought two. On my way to work, I wasted no time unwrapping the first one while devouring it in about a minute or so, and I had decided to save the second one for when I actually arrived at work.
While walking back to work, I had my eyes locked on my phone and my earphones plugged in, only looking up to see when it was safe to cross the street. When I got about halfway to my destination I noticed a man looking through a trash can. At first, I thought nothing of it, thinking maybe he thought he threw away something by accident so my attention returned to my phone. For some reason, my curiosity grew and forced me to look back at what the man was doing. This same man was looking through another trash can about three places away from the first one. He was really looking for something. Then it hit me: this man was homeless and looking for food. I found myself instantly anxious and quickened my pace. I did not want this man catching up to me. My brain automatically began formulating responses to his unasked questions. “Sorry, I only have my debit card.” “ My apologies, I seriously have no spare change.” When I finally got to my job, I decided to wait and enjoy the weather outside nearby.
There I was, once again enjoying my bubble of privacy when I noticed the man on the opposite side of the street sifting through trash once again. I wasn’t sure what to say or do. I felt so bad for this man, that he had to search through garbage in order to feed himself. Even though I had empathy for him I still was not sure on how to approach him without being offensive. I sat there for a moment trying to map out what I would do until I finally just got up, walked over to him, offered him my donut (which he accepted), and walked away. It was just as simple as that. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. That was one of the easiest decisions I could ever make.
I was ashamed of myself. I was ashamed that I watched someone, another human being, picking through rubbish in order to survive and I thought twice about helping. I could not believe how selfish my primary thoughts were. I did not think of this man right away, I only thought about how nervous and anxious I was. I could not stop thinking about the homeless man all during the work day. Every chance possible, I found myself peeking out the window that looks out to the main street to see if he was still looking through the garbage. I finally brought it up to a co-worker, and he said a once homeless man told him, “Sometimes all you need is a little kindness from a stranger to keep you going.” He also told me to not feel ashamed of my initial reaction because growing up, most of us are taught to mind our own business. When it comes to the homeless we are often told that it’s their own fault and that they need to get jobs and stay off drugs. This made me think about the man, he didn’t seem to be on drugs. He had his hair medium length, had a bit of a beard as if he had shaved and it was growing back, and wore what looked like gently used clothes. His shoes were really worn and were leaning, which gave me the impression that he walks a lot. He was an older man with gray hair, probably in his mid-40s. After considering this, I did a little research on the homeless.
According to economyincrisis.org over half a million people in the United States are homeless. One-quarter of those homeless people are children under the age of 18. Also, tens of thousands of veterans are homeless: over 50,000 on any given night. Domestic violence is the cause of homelessness when it comes to women, with more than ninety percent of them who are homeless because they ran away from the physical or sexual abuse. I also found out that many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent and the government is not doing as much as we think. There is enough public rental assistance to help only one of four people in severely low-income households.
People love to say, “They need to go get a job and stop asking for handouts.” In all reality, it is not that simple. A lot of the homeless do not keep up with their I.D., social security number, or birth certificate. When you apply for a job or enroll in school you are asked for some, if not all of these things. Think about it, they have no money, no ride to go anywhere to get anything like that done and even if they do it’s a lengthy process. They are already at a disadvantage because they are homeless and they have others judging them and treating them like they are a lesser being. I do agree with the idea that they can come back and should work for what they want and need, but it is the rest of us who should give them the initial push to move forward. We should leave no one behind, especially when they need us the most.
