Homeless are the Lazy
By: Jonathan D. Livers
English 102: Michael D. Benton
What do you imagine when the subject of the homeless comes up? I’m sure you’re just like the rest of the middle/upper class, thinking they are worthless drug/alcohol addicted peasants. We feel as if we are the better halves. But some of those homeless are the reason we are the land of the free and home of the brave, some used to be our pharmacist, bankers, and our neighbors.
We look at the homeless from the outside, never taking in consideration how they became homeless. What if we took a peep into the life’s of the homeless like “Someplace like America” does? After spending time with the homeless, would we still have the same mind set as we do now? After knowing that they could possibly be a mirror to our future would we still treat them with the same disrespect as we do now?
Crazy red, a Vietnam veteran was one of the homeless that the authors’ opened and viewed the pages of his life. He had very well grown to the life of a homeless civilian, knowing all the tricks and traits. Knew were to sleep, what was the best ways to sleep, were to gather foods, he lived life as if he had been homeless forever. But he wasn’t. He was a proud veteran of the war, one of this nation’s heroes. This the way we treat our once idols?
Yes, this had become of the life in Santa Barbara, CA. The author’s experienced it first hand for themselves. At first it was a great understanding, meeting new interesting people, figuring out their life’s’ stories. But living as the homeless they must familiarize the bad side. One night, in a flutter of commotion, they were scattered off by the shouts and screams of a police invasion. One reporter asking, “how can they do this!? This isn’t right!” It may not have been right, but it’s our ignorance that brings us to the concept that all homeless are bad, so the police officers didn’t do it out of hatred; they performed their act out of stupidity. (Maharide 1-10)
The most amazing part of the homeless life is how people had got to this point in their life. Yes, there are your drug addicts who need help because they have wasted every moment of the life and money on the consumption of harsh remedies, but some are not so thick headed. Many of the homeless were quite intelligent, some even with a close past of being employed and with a home. It brings up the question, how close is my community of going through the same? What’s stopping the factory that I work at shut down tomorrow with no hope of finding another job? Bills must be paid or we’ll have to go without; Food must be bought or we’ll have to scavenge. These haunting questions trouble even me, a college student because what if the degree I’m acquiring doesn’t have any demand by the time I graduate? I’d be too far in debt to go back to school.
I’m just like any other man, I fear my future, but I look towards it with my chin held high, but stories like this do make me wonder how far away is our society to complete failure? And if failure is inevitable, will I be treated with the same lack of respect as the people in Santa Barbra? Think twice next time a swaddle of dirty torn rags on the side of the street holds up an empty can of last night’s supper and ask you for a small amount of change, coins that you’re probably going to lose anyways.
Citation Page
Maharide, Dale. Someplace Like America. 1st. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011. 1-10. Print.
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