Jimspeak

I have a well paying job. I grew up in a middle income family in a Chicago suburb. I went to a good high school (even though it was private and therefore scarred me forever) and then a good college. Here's what I am trying to get at - I have never had to deal with being completely broke, and I have never been homeless (and God/Goddess willing, I never will be). Therefore, I can’t really relate to people who are. I won’t sit around and pass judgment on them for being lazy, or alcoholic, or any of that stuff, because how can I? I’ve never been there. I don’t know what it’s like. It has to be harder than hell to get out of that situation, while being relatively easy to find yourself in that situation. All I can do is try to show some compassion and understanding, and try to help out when I can. It really bother me when someone who has never been homeless or broke, or dealt with or known someone who has been, sits there and tries to tell me how they know these people are lazy and a drain on those of us who work. That they could make things better if they just tried. Sure, maybe they could. But if you have been so beaten down in life that you have never had anyone instill that way of thinking in you, how do you get started? Of course there are people who have made it out. But they are few. And they may have had some help even if it was something as simple as someone showing them some compassion or encouraging words.

I am digressing. That is not what I was trying to get at. Here is where I am trying to go-I have never been homeless or broke, but there is a certain behavior I have seen exhibited from those who are that baffles me. If I were broke, I think I would be more than grateful for any kind of food-providing it was not dirty and/or rotten. However, I keep seeing how this is not the case. I have spent a few evenings in a soup kitchen doing sundry tasks-cleaning, preparing food, serving food, and whatever else was needed. My first time helping out there shocked me. There were pallets and pallets of bread that had been donated by various stores (the day old variety). Our job was to go through them and not only find the rotten bread, but to throw out anything that wasn’t sliced white bread, and that was probably at least half of all the bread they had. The people that had volunteered with me were also new to the scene. We all gawked at the ‘volunteer organizer’, unable to believe what he was telling us. Apparently, he said, the people coming in are picky and won’t eat anything but sliced white bread. Unreal! Here are people without a home, without food, who are refusing free food! And it wasn’t limited to milk. There was a lot of other food that had to be tossed (or taken out of town to a local pig farm-pigs aren’t picky) because no one would eat it.

I have another anecdote on the subject. Most days, there is a beggar at the end of my off-ramp on the way home. Like all others, they sit there with their cardboard sign that says something like: “Anything will help, God Bless”, “Needing bus fare/rent money/gas money/food money”, or something along those lines. Every now and then I try to throw a little out. You can never have enough good karma-you never know when you’ll need it. I ran home today at lunch, and there was a lady sitting there who has been there a couple/few days. I gave her a couple dollars the other day, but my wallet was empty today. But I had a power bar, and thought I’d offer it up. Granted, power bars aren’t the tastiest things, but it’s food and will give you some nutrients and stuff that you need. I was turned down, because she doesn’t like to eat them.

This flabbergasts me. If you have nothing, how can you turn down anything that would be good for you, something that would fill your stomach even a little, simply because you don’t like the taste? I don’t understand this at all. Granted, I am not a picky eater but how can you be picky if you are starving?? Maybe it’s a way for them to keep some self-respect and keep from having no say over anything in their life. I guess I could see that. Morale and self-respect are probably pretty low. Is disliked food really that much harder to swallow on an empty stomach than a little pride? I do not understand.

Anyone have any deeper insights into this phenomenon?