When you see a homeless person do you ever wonder what decisions and choices led him to that point?

Question

I was at my fourth grades son football game at Lake Oswego High School. Lake Oswego is the poshest, most expensive town in Oregon. If you have to ask how much you can't afford to live there. I live elsewhere. Under the bleachers there was this fifty some year old man scrounging for pop bottles. His life started out with hope and promise, but somewhere along the line his life went off the track. Maybe drugs or alcohol or an economic downturn, but I wondered as I watched him, invisible to everyone else, what had brought him to where he was in life. The homeless who haunt our cities are almost invisible, and yet they started out very visible and cared for. Now they are just throw aways in a throw away society.

Evil Red: What I typed was not an indictment against homeless people, it was an indictment against a society that spends billions on ill fated wars with little regard for the most vulnerable(homeless women and children as well). I am sympathetic to their plight.

Answer 1

I have to say I DO wonder that. Life takes different twists and turns for all of us, but, unless you have mental problems, no one wants to be homeless when they grow up.

I live in an upper-middle class community, but I still see homeless people from time to time. I could be wrong, but I think alot of the homeless (in the US anyway) probably have two things in common: the downsizing of the average American worker and having fought in the Vietnam war.

My family has gone through two devastating downsizings in the last 11 years, so it's a subject that very much interests me. I'm currently reading a book called "The Disposable American - Layoffs and their Consequences". I certainly didn't make the decision to be downsized - either time. It was made for me. I'm sure that decision was also made for a good majority of the homeless we see every day.

I agree with you - we do tend to make the homeless invisible. Some of that comes from those who think they are some "better" than the homeless. For others, I think seeing a homeless person tends to be kind of scary, because it's easy to think "...wow, I'd better be careful...that could happen to me...".

Sometimes I wonder where their families are - or what has happened to their families. I used to give them money, but I know a good percentage of homeless people have alcohol problems, and I just don't have the money to give to someone who will just turn around and buy alcohol with it. Lately, if doing so doesn't put me or my family at risk, we'll drive to get a homeless person we see a hot meal and a non-alcoholic drink, then bring it back to the person. But, you have to pick and choose who you do that for, because there are cons everywhere. Some cons even pretend to be homeless.

It's a difficult thing to see. Sometimes I think if you compared the life of a very successful CEO, who earns millions of dollars a year, to a homeless person, it might surprise us just how similar those two lives are, had it not been for a few strokes of success for one, and failure for the other.

Thanks for an posting an interesting question.

Answer 2

Yes, I do. I live in a smaller town but our sister city, Huntsville, has many homeless. A lot of them live under the interstate overpasses. I often see them near the library or on the streets downtown. Not too long ago a homeless man was shot and killed by a police officer. He came at the officer with a knife so it was self defense. Still, it was very sad because he was paranoid schizophrenic and thought the police were a danger to him. A doctor who is a volunteer aid to the homeless had befriended him and had been trying to help.
From what I've read, many of the homeless do have mental health problems and need medication and/or hospitalization. Our health care changed some years back and basically turned many who needed health care for mental illness out on the streets.
I wonder where their families are and if anyone who knows them realizes where they are? What kind of home did they grow up in? Have they ever lived in a stable, secure environment? Do they want to be off the street or has that become their way of life and are they afraid to change? Most of us tend to stay with what we find most comfortable, even when it is hurting us.
When I was a college student I met a young fellow named Chris. He came from an upper-middle class family, was well-educated and a very likable guy. I don't know what happened to Chris, but by the end of his second year he had quit school, moved out of the dorm and was living on the street. I don't know why he wouldn't go home to his parents or live with someone else. Other students offered him a place to stay. My husband and I gave him some cash - he came and asked us one day. He went away and I don't know what ever happened to him. It was incredibly sad and eye-opening. We never know what the world inside people is truly like. We don't even know ourselves as well as we think we do.

Answer 3

Why does a person have to be a throw away?! I am the Director of a Homeless shelter & I have individuals come in of all different races and at one time economic backgrounds. Think about it: if you lost your job (and dont say it would NEVER happen bc you DONT know) and you had NO family and were evicted or your home went into foreclosure...where would you be? If you did get strung out on drugs and/or alcohol and had completed treatment and your family would not allow you back into the home where would you go?! Some are my clients do work but it takes time and money (and when waiting for a 1st paycheck) to obtain housing again. Do not cast judgment on a person just because you are not homeless. You are no better than anyone else! All you can do is be blessed that you have a family and a home to go to at the end of every night!

Answer 4

I have often wondered that myself.
At the age of 16, I ran away from home and took up life as a street kid in Toronto. It is a very meager existence and I did what I had to do to survive. I am not proud of that life but it took the loss of a life for me to find my way back home. I panhandled, sold newspapers and various other 'services'. There were a good dozen of us that looked out for each other and we would sleep in the park in shifts. There were a lot of all night donut places that seemed to be sympathetic to our plight. One night when we were huddled up in the shop a policeman (off duty) incited a fight with one of our group. He called him on in the back alley and then flashed his badge. Our 'friend' refused to fight back knowing the consequences would be dire. After he had fairly pulverized the young man, his anger fueled, he came after the rest of us. I, being small and not nearly so quick, was the first person he grabbed. I lost consciousness before he even laid a hand on me. May have been prudent, may not. All I know, is that in a couple of days I was in the hospital losing the baby I was carrying. I had to file a report and the officer in charge of the investigation discovered that I was a runaway and asked me if I wanted to go home. I seized the opportunity and my parents were willing to have me back. I hopped a bus and took the 72 hour trip home, weeping all the way for what I had left behind.
Had the incident not occured, I am sure that I would still be there, fighting my way with the rest of them.
There but for the grace of God; go I.

Answer 5

Studies have found that many homeless people suffer from psychological disorders, especially schizophrenia. Of course, that, by no means, causes someone to become homeless, but such a disorder makes it difficult for them to function in a job.

Answer 6

thank u for those very compassionate question's i like you wonder about each homeless person i see especially the babies and woman it hurt my heart .rich as the usa is they still have not learn to take care of home and stay out of other people business they say it is help out there for anyone in need but believe me it is easier said then done the country is looking morer and morer like it is for the rich eveyone has been down for awhile some of us never pull up some of us do i refused to look down on anyone for i feel that someday it might be me and mine

Answer 7

I too always wonder what happened to force them to the streets .
Some of them are Moms with small kids, who just couldn't pay the bills . My heart truly goes out to all of them , no matter who they are . I can't understand how a country like the USA can just toss them off as if they are trash . I pray for them and I surely pray for the rest of us that let it happen .

Answer 8

No, but I do wonder how they can continue to live in the way they do. It seems so useless to waste a life in that way, but we all have choices and that's what some of them chose, not all just some. Whatever it makes me realize how very lucky I am.......