(Dusts off soapbox before use)
So I'm transferring at the station at referred to in my last post from the E to the #6 and there is a massive pileup of commuters by the subway car entrance. I quickly see why - there was a heavy set homeless female sitting in one of the smaller two seaters with a very prominent body odor. So I stood across the aisle from her because my nose was partly stuffy and I work with homeless youth, some of whom have a similar odor level. It was just funny watching people's reactions when the smell hit them...here they are, clean and busy, rushing off to their day and to be bothered by this homeless person who is on the train in rush hour no less! Such an inconvenience!
The looks they gave her was tremendously...unnerving. I looked over at the woman and saw something else. I wondered what her story was. Does she speak another language? What are her possible medical and mental health conditions? Is there addiction, assault, abuse, sex work in her history? Where is her family? Was she merely trying to catch a nap because this was the first time in a few hours she could do so, knowing her body odor could leave her undisturbed by most for a few moments? Homeless folks have to have a skin as thick as the dirt from being unwashed sometimes when dealing with regular folks because they're in that least, lost and forgotten group in society.
Some are scammers, but have to scam to survive. Some are good people who burned too many bridges themselves to receive help. Others have had life torch bridges for them in the form of circumstances with regard to the questions I asked earlier. It just irks me when people look through them. I never liked this phrase being used as a reason by some groups to solicit money but it is the truth: "it could be you".
With employment and housing the top 2 issues for many folks here, you wonder how do people expect the homeless to get up off their feet and stay on it. The message is clear: "don't fall through the cracks, as there isn't much people can do to help you up".
That's not right. Resources should be allocated, but they are piled up in the hands of the uber wealthy.
That's not right.
Posted Approved by Nexus 7 (2013)