Homeless

After watching the Movie "Soloist" last night it made me re-think the ongoing problem of the homeless in our society. I've always been enamored with the homeless, it's a sad ongoing issue around our country and it seems to be escalating with our current economy and more people a paycheck or two away from joining the ranks of the homeless. Being a fortunate person and gainfully employed, spouse as well and make a good living doing what we do I always ask myself"how did that person get to that point" As a rule I make it a point to talk to the homeless wherever I go, various cities I've visited always leave me compelled to seek out, and not run from a homeless person. My main objective in conversing with them is to learn, to empathize and try to understand how a person could end up sleeping in an alley next to garbage and filth. At what point does a person give up and succumb to that lifestyle, these are the things I've long searched for. Over the years I've been able to correlate a few common denominators , one being drugs and alcohol , others being domestic violence, loss of loved ones or bad relationships and marriages that they were never able to recover from. Other times you have people who are generally not all there and the streets make them more so after a while. It is a very rough and tough life and have had many Homeless people tell me their stories, some by showing me bullet wounds, or knife wounds or scars obtained in a scuffle of some sort, it is survival of the fittest. So when a homeless person approaches me ans asks for money or something, and I have the time , I will always ask the same question," How did you end up here on the streets" if they are willing, than i will give them a fiver as a rule, if not, a $1. My aim is never to exploit their bad way just to try to understand how life's precious sanctuaries have been taken away ,or given up on, the lives we call normal, with four walls and a steady job and a pile of bills to deal with each month. The daily struggle for survival enthralls me and it grips me so much that it hurts me at times. When i visit my fiends in downtown LA , not too far from skid row where the soloist is based, I always see and feel the remnants of the homeless as we sit there and drink that $3 cup of coffee and that $9 sandwich and converse with each other about family and jobs and upcoming events that we share interests. WE will encounter 2-3 homeless men or woman with their shopping carts filled with their life's possessions and sometimes they ask for money, or a smoke and we usually oblige and watch them walk away with their lives in that cart. I am generally moved and touched at their plight, my friends are better at hiding it than I am, that feeling of being uncomfortable because I can afford the things that they dream about sends that guilt all the way to my innards! My obsession with the homeless runs deep and it makes me sad for them and sad for a country so rich and so wonderful in all that it has to offer, except for the few homeless, last estimate was 90,000 in LA alone but that number has grown for sure. I always had this thought that I would make a difference and do something about it, even to the point where I still think that I want to live as a homeless person for a year and then a book detailing the life and time all chronicled with my play by play and somehow have pictures taken to illustrate the plight of my journey. My ultimate goal would be to donate most of the proceeds from this book to the Homeless cause and bring an awareness to the people who have it so good. But knowing that most people do not want to see, hear or be involved with Homeless people at all seems like a fruitless proposition but the thought is still vivid in my mind. I do realize that some of these people are there on their own volition and that many mistakes had been made to get them there, but the humanistic good ,loving side of me makes me cringe to think that a person has to beg, borrow or steal to get their next meal and shelter is never guaranteed , but fought for. Because i am blessed and i have everything that I will ever need, to include family, friends and a support group that would never put me on the streets if I lost everything I have, how did those people lose it all and end up with nothing, most not even a faith in a God that apparently is off duty for these people, who know, this Country is in sad shape ,we need to care for all people ,even the ones not wearing Abercrombie and Fitch and smelling like Chanel!