Homelessness

When I was really young I lived in Minneapolis, and I remember passing under bridges and seeing the raggedy blankets and worn, raggedy people who lived there. They scared me a little, but I was fascinated and pitied them. I always wanted to help them, and I assumed they had the same capacity for growth, learning and improvement that I did. If they just got a job, they could get their lives together,  and would be okay, I thought.

I moved to the suburbs and became, like the majority of suburbanites, sheltered from most worldly hardship. I never saw those weary people except for the occasional person begging on the side of the street when we drove downtown. The city installed spikes under bridges to deter the homeless, like pigeons deterred from the top of a shiny red Target sign.

One day I was in driving near uptown with my friend and her mom. They had traveled to India and have been exposed to unimaginable poverty that I have only witnessed in Slum Dog Millionaire. They go to a meditation center regularly, and could be classified as contemporary hippies. We were waiting in the long traffic line on Hennepin near the Walker and we saw a  man with the signature cardboard sign. They were both sympathetic, pondering if they should give him only their doggy bag from the restaurant or include some money too. "Don't give him any money, he'll probably just buy drugs with it" I said ignorantly. To be fair, I heard that quote directly from what I learned in school.
They both looked at me like I was some daft and exotic caged specimen, and quietly handed him the bag out of a cracked window.

More time passed by, and when I saw homeless people I developed a slight twinge of disgust and annoyance. Why can't they just go get a job at McDonalds? I thought. What I didn't realize, and what I have come to understand now is that the homeless are usually mentally ill, unable to work, and do not have the same potential that I do, due to circumstance and genetics.

The tragicness of the homeless problem and the sad people that live in it makes me question the order of the universe If there is some higher power, what kind of sick joke is it to create people who are unable to help themselves?  I am in a complete state of confusion about the subject and I have no idea what a solution could be, the problem seems to overwhelming and unsolvable. To target the chronically homeless the power-law based model seems like a logical place to start.

I think on an individual level all we can do is be compassionate and sympathetic like my hippie friends. If there is an opportunity to give, then do it, and keep the heart open and loving.