The young girl in the picture looks like your everyday average teenager, right? And she is. She just also happens to be homeless.
«Mark calls them “invisible people” because so often, they lurk unnoticed on the edges of society. We walk by them on the street, not seeing them or too busy or uncomfortable to stop. Do we give money? Do we buy them a sandwich? We don’t know, and so we pretend we don’t see them because there’s no easy answer.
We distance ourselves mentally, too. The homeless are drug addicts. The mentally-ill. Not us. Not like us. They’re homeless because they want to be, many say. They’re too lazy to do anything but ask for spare change. Not like us. It couldn’t happen to us.
Sitting next to AnnMarie, Doris Day kept singing in my brain. “I asked my mother what would I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here’s what she said to me….”
It didn’t sound so sweet this time. Whatever will be will be? What kind of answer is that? Here I was, sitting next to someone who felt so like me. And Sandra, and Reggie. They felt like me too. Why was I the one asking the questions while they asked for change?
It seems so cruel. AnnMarie and I were both little girls long ago, wondering what we would grow up to be. Did she ever imagine she would be sleeping in an empty lot, depending on the kindness of strangers?»
via Making the invisible visible – Megan Cottrell – One Story Up – True/Slant.
Painted Black Rehash: Paying the Price
This young man’s letter illustrates one of the many reasons why kids end up on the streets. Oftentimes it becomes a choice between two bad options.
Amy’s response is also pretty typical of the general public’s. Instead of offering suggestions for how to deal with the sexually aggressive housemate, she derides the writer for being financial irresponsible which is why his parents kicked him out.
Kids on the streets are often both the instigator of their own situation at the same time they are victims of forces outside their own control. Why do we so often point an accusatory finger at the individual instead of trying to help him/her overcome the circumstances that are hindering their growth?
Like this:
Leave a comment | tags: Chicago, Homeless culture | posted in Commentary