Where is the truth? (Homelessness)

I'm on vacation in San Francisco, California right now. Luckily, there's free Internet in the hotel, so I can share this blog entry with you all.

As some of you already know, I've lived the greater portion of my life on a farm in a rural area. Almost country-like. Cities are a mystery to me. They both scare and amaze me with the loud noises and hundreds of people in one small area. It's just amazing to see stores that sell $600 shoes rather than $10 dollar store sneakers. You could say the culture shock is rampant.

But there's another factor I don't usually think about right away when thinking of a city. It's something many of my fellow bloggers have written about: Homeless people.

On the way from the station where the train from the airport dropped me and my aunt and uncle off to the front doors of the hotel I saw 5 homeless people. It's a scary statistic to encounter in a 5 block walk. I saw a man and his puppy sitting on the ground with a cardboard sign that said "We need green". I saw a man doing what I assume was an act; he was standing on a crate in a frozen stance holding out a Starbucks cup for spare change. Yet another man was kneeling on the sidewalk of an intersection. His head and face were down, and his arms were on top of his head cradling yet another Starbucks cup. The position looked oddly like he was praying. "Please, I need the help of you people who have enough to give," this position indicated. A homeless woman, probably seventy or eighty years old, scared me the most some how. She was so wrinkled and sunken-in that she looked frail to the point of death. She followed people, asking for spare change. This could have been someone's grandmother, and here she was begging in the streets.

I was already thinking of writing about this on ProgU, but I asked myself how this was different from what was already said. What was I learning from this experience?

I thought back to previous blog entries and their comments. Some people tend to think that homeless people have done this to themselves, or are little more than frauds. Maybe the man with the rotwellier puppy was a fake. Afterall, if you can hardly afford to take care of yourself, how can you take care of a pet? Some people talk honestly about true experiences in which they know that some homeless people haven't a choice on their situation. The economy is hard on them, and forces them--and sometimes whole families--out of a comfortable home and way of life.

The other thing I was wondering was: Where are the homeless shelters? Where have these people to go for respite? So far in my travels, I haven't seen one thing to help out these people.

And the last thing I need to mention is how other people react to the homeless. We avert our eyes, walk in a large berth around these people, and pretend not to see them. I did the same thing. How can I think of progress when I react in the same way as the stuffy rich people? You know, I would've shared some pocket change with these people if I hadn't been with my Aunt and Uncle. They would have looked down upon it.

Here I am at a loss for many reasons. I wonder about the possible motives of homeless people who may be putting on an act, I question the lack of political response that could provide shelters and resources for these people, and I hate myself for being one of those who averts the eyes and skirts around the truth.

Not anymore. Here I am to make a promise to both myself and you that I will continue my observation to get to a little of the truth. Maybe I'll pass a few coins to someone who needs them. Maybe someday I'll get to do that documentary of homeless life, the one I discussed with my friend Amber and also with our dear Kiota.

Anything is possible, right?

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