This article hit home to me because for a time last year, after leaving my very miserable marriage, I was homeless myself. I was fortunate, I never had any problems because I didn't "look" homeless, I tried to be smart, safe, and didn't draw attention to myself. I was blessed to have wonderful friends and family to help me during that difficult time. But not everyone is so fortunate, or able to "blend in". What sickens me most is that most of these attackers are teens, or even children. Before getting started on a rant about "kids today", ask yourselves, how has childhood changed? What about parents today? Who is teaching our children that it is ok to hate, that these people are less, that violence and hatred is a "sport"? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070408/ap_on_re_us/preying_on_the_homeless;_ylt=AjDhGdT8jm9m4aQsf4GH9AlH2ocA quotes from the article: I am posting this in the "People" forum for what should be the obvious reason that the homeless are people.
iv spent quite a bit of time on the streets all along the west coast ....and saw/expirienced a war on the homeless everywhere. if it wasnt the "troll bashers" it was the police trying to run the homeless out of their town. (often in ways that are not legal) it can be an intense lifestyle. and then theres the ignorants who will tell you to get a job, but what isnt realized is how hard it is to get a job when its hard to get a shower or clean clothes or when you havent a phone to recieve potential employers callbacks...ect. the homeless communtiy does have a strong brotherhood amongst eachother though, and that is really a beautiful thing
i realize this, and am just adding my story to confirm. how about getting tickets for setting a backpack down, or getting a ticket for leaning against a public building, or for sitting on a public bench for too long, or for laying down in a public park. iv seen all these things, never seen someone who wasnt homeless get one of those tickets though. iv also been in towns where the bus drivers pass by the homeless if their the only one waiting at a bus stop. many of the random ticketing incedents i know of happened in ashland, and then the police would inform the ticketed, that no warrant will follow them if they leave ashland. thats what really bothered me. the idea is that the homeless will leave ashland, but then every other town is also trying to rid their streets of the homeless, so there is really no where to go. we're fighting symptoms with this kind of behavior, not the real problem.
I always see homeless people in my town every day when taking a walk or driving by; it always makes me feel really bad. I cannot imagine people being heartless enough to be cruel to homeless people...actually, I guess I can imagine it, but it's still terrible. It's a very sad article.
the thing is though, most of the homeless choose to be homeless. and most homebodies with jobs, romantisize the lifestyle of the wanderer. i think that says alot about our society as well. there is a lack of freedom that people feel, so much so that dropping out of the system seems like the only option.
i chose to be homeless rather than remain in a marriage that was unhappy and turning abusive. with local women's shelters poorly managed & over-crowded, i felt that better opportunity would be available to me elsewhere, and i went homeless for awhile to reach it, bearing the risk and the temporary discomfort & uncertainty for a chance at a better future. what mystifies me, is how can police etc. tell a person is homeless by looking at them? people can fit the appearance of "homeless" and still maintain a dwelling, and it is not as if one suddenly starts wearing grey, ragged clothes and pushing a shopping cart the minute they lose their home. i didn't "look" homeless; many people refused to believe I was because I was wearing the same clothes and staying as groomed as I could and was couch-surfing instead of living in a cardboard box and walking around with shopping bags full of empty pop bottles. i had the most wonderful conversation today. a woman i know through a local hippie shop appologized to me about some comments she had made to me about my decidion to camp in a tent on state land for a few weeks in order to be with my kids for awhile while i was homeless. i told her i knew that the only reason she got upset with me was because she cared. she showed a lot of compassion and understanding, both by expressing her concern and by appologizing for the judgement she'd passed. what an awesome person!