Since I work downtown, I see quite a few homeless people. They are often asking for money, spare change. Recently, signs and fliers have been popping up around downtown that say "Don't Give Where it Can't Help" in an effort to stop aggressive panhandling, especially from people posing as homeless people. After some criticism, they now have signs that say, "It's OK to say no."
Whenever someone visits me downtown, or if we're downtown for a performance or sporting event, people feel obligated to give to the panhandlers. I do not. As I say, if I gave to everyone who asked, I would be giving every day!
One time, as I was driving home, I saw near an overpass, in some trees and bushes, a makeshift shelter with a blue tarp. It got me thinking, what would I do if I were homeless?
Now I should point out that I know I will never be homeless. Even if I hit some serious financial troubles, I know there are people who would take care of me. And I am VERY grateful to know that I will never be hungry or homeless.
First off, I would not be homeless in Cleveland. I would do anything possible to get to a warmer climate - walk, hitchhike, jump on the back of a horse-drawn wagon as in days of old.
I would want to be homeless by the beach, preferably in Hawaii. There are actually homeless people in Hawaii. We saw them hanging out in a grassy area under banyan trees near the beach.
If I couldn't get to a warmer climate, I would build a shelter for myself someplace deep in one of the nearby parks, where hopefully no one would find me.
I also have a brilliant scheme for getting money without begging. I was in the drive-thru a couple of weeks ago and the person in front of me dropped some change, left it, and dug for some more. I bet if you periodically checked by drive-thru windows, you'd find some serious change. I've done it before, and because it's so tight there, you usually can't open the door to get it, so you leave it. Cha-ching!
2 comments:
You should publish a book of this stuff.
We have panhandlers here too--way too many, in my opinion, for the size of town we have. Most of them look like college-age hippies. I also never give money, but I always wonder if I should say something or just ignore them? Ignoring them seems weird, like I'm denying their existence or humanity or something. But apologizing to them for not giving them money also seems weird, since I'm not sorry about it. In general, they just make me feel uncomfortable.
I agree that I would prefer being homeless in Hawaii or somewhere with a temperate clime. I think the idea of building the shelter in the park where nobody could find you sounds great, homeless or not!!!!
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