2/22/2006
Homeless. Hungry. God Bless.
Saw a fellow homeless person from the bus yesterday while en route to work. She was standing on the corner of West Wendover and Bridford Parkway. Although her back was to me, I'd seen that stance before and the way she seemed to be scanning the nearby line of cars suggested that she wasn't waiting to cross the street (a risky proposition on Wendover, in any case). She was carrying one of those cardboard signs.
Homeless. Hungry. God bless. Or some variant of the message thereof.
I couldn't help but be struck by the differences between us (other than gender and ethnicity, of course). She was passively working a street corner, depending solely on what spare change or food passing drivers would be willing to share and trusting that she'd have something to show for it at the end of the day besides a collection of obscene gestures and insults. I was on a public transport, actively headed to a job that, while it pays next to nothing, had a regular payday and some benefits.
But more importantly, unlike the woman on the corner, I wasn't feeding a stereotype.
With her sign, she was buying into (and causing others viewing her to buy into) a perception that the homeless are all panhandlers who just want to stand around doing nothing instead of working or otherwise trying to better their position. That we're all lazy, or on drugs/alcohol, or are otherwise, as Ronald Reagan so succinctly put it, "homeless by choice".
And once you feed a stereotype, you give it a strength that it doesn't deserve, and that strength invariably leads to negative perceptions. I can't imagine why anybody, homeless or otherwise, would want to aid a negative perception of themselves.
I'm certainly in no position to judge this woman. I have my survival strategy, she has hers. Maybe hers works better for her than mine does for me. I don't know. What I do know is that I've chosen not to feed the stereotype. I've decided that I'm better off not standing around passively on the street corner, or sleeping in the library, or hitting strangers up for change. I'm better off doing what I've always done: go to work, raise my kids, try to make tomorrow an increment better than today.
To do otherwise, to stand still holding a cardboard sign, is to do myself and other homeless people a massive disservice.
Homeless. Hungry. God bless. Or some variant of the message thereof.
I couldn't help but be struck by the differences between us (other than gender and ethnicity, of course). She was passively working a street corner, depending solely on what spare change or food passing drivers would be willing to share and trusting that she'd have something to show for it at the end of the day besides a collection of obscene gestures and insults. I was on a public transport, actively headed to a job that, while it pays next to nothing, had a regular payday and some benefits.
But more importantly, unlike the woman on the corner, I wasn't feeding a stereotype.
With her sign, she was buying into (and causing others viewing her to buy into) a perception that the homeless are all panhandlers who just want to stand around doing nothing instead of working or otherwise trying to better their position. That we're all lazy, or on drugs/alcohol, or are otherwise, as Ronald Reagan so succinctly put it, "homeless by choice".
And once you feed a stereotype, you give it a strength that it doesn't deserve, and that strength invariably leads to negative perceptions. I can't imagine why anybody, homeless or otherwise, would want to aid a negative perception of themselves.
I'm certainly in no position to judge this woman. I have my survival strategy, she has hers. Maybe hers works better for her than mine does for me. I don't know. What I do know is that I've chosen not to feed the stereotype. I've decided that I'm better off not standing around passively on the street corner, or sleeping in the library, or hitting strangers up for change. I'm better off doing what I've always done: go to work, raise my kids, try to make tomorrow an increment better than today.
To do otherwise, to stand still holding a cardboard sign, is to do myself and other homeless people a massive disservice.
# posted by Cybermancer @ 11:12 AM 
Comments:
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Interesting thinking, danneh... which influencing factor helped formulate your opinion? If it was you in the same situation, what would it take for you to be ok with getting a lower priority over somebody else? The reason I ask is that I'm wondering if you would have posted at all if it was revealed that the single lady was really sick or if she's been waiting for 5 years and she's FINALLY next in line. What if she was just as successful as he was and became homeless a day before he did? I think your "stereotype" of a Family of 4 should take precedence over a single woman is a bit harsh, don't you think?
I'm not being mean or trying to "stir up the pot", I just want to understand your viewpoint.
I'm not being mean or trying to "stir up the pot", I just want to understand your viewpoint.
strategy is the appropriate word. HA!
Do you know how useful this Internet thing is to us 'dispossessed'? I mean I see so many adults in the public libraries using it as a resource, young persons like myself also, its incredible. you can ascertain aspects of a person financial capability by looking over their shoulder at the web pages they look at and sites they visit. Is it housing action committees, food pantries, second hand clothing stores, or job sites. I m telling you Cyb., there are people out there who fit the criteria of the dispossessed but actually are not homeless because their is a roof over their head when they go to sleep. Funny.
Do you know how useful this Internet thing is to us 'dispossessed'? I mean I see so many adults in the public libraries using it as a resource, young persons like myself also, its incredible. you can ascertain aspects of a person financial capability by looking over their shoulder at the web pages they look at and sites they visit. Is it housing action committees, food pantries, second hand clothing stores, or job sites. I m telling you Cyb., there are people out there who fit the criteria of the dispossessed but actually are not homeless because their is a roof over their head when they go to sleep. Funny.
Regarding joe-london's observation, don't forget that the lazier elements of the media focus on what they're familiar with. Homelessness doesn't directly affect the day-to-day lives of many in the media, and so it may get underreported as a result.
Any news organization that bows down to the whims of its ad buyers, though, is inherently corrupt and worthless.
Any news organization that bows down to the whims of its ad buyers, though, is inherently corrupt and worthless.
Downsizing, outsourcing, too many illegal immigrants working "under the table" saves companies tax dollars, affordable housing, affordable health and dental care, all contribute to homelessness. Can you imagine being older and in ill health, competing with younger, stronger people for the few available jobs.
Know a few "homed" and many homeless that make a nice piece of spare change by "signing". Begging is humilitating, but in a desperate situation, people do desperate things.
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Know a few "homed" and many homeless that make a nice piece of spare change by "signing". Begging is humilitating, but in a desperate situation, people do desperate things.
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