What Kind of Homeless

I work in an urban part of the city and there's a lot of traffic especially near the mall. It's cool. But one thing that is not cool is the number of homeless people who hang out there. The business park has a lot of restaurants, with mature landscaping and lots of grass. Don't get me wrong: it's a great spot. 

For shoppers rushing to do errands, they are probably invisible -- and I'm typically a live-and-let-live kind of person  -- but recently they have started patrolling the berm in the left turn lane to get money from people stuck at the light.

It's like an in-your-space-and-in-your-face sales call just inches from the car.  Sometimes the window is open and it's like they are in my car with me. When the light turns green, all the cars blast out of there like a rocket.

It's really hard to explain how uncomfortable this has become for all of us sitting there. We don't want to be shamed by their gestures and comments, and so we look in our laps and pray for the light to change. And the next time we have to head this way, we find an alternate route.

It happens in my hometown, too, at the exit from WalMart. The same guys have staked out this little exit route for 3 years or so. One time I watched one of them set up a mid-aged woman in a wheelchair on that little raised berm. So now it's a little business venture on the busier corners in town and they are using a marketing strategy for sympathy donations. It's probably very lucrative.

That makes me sad because there are genuine people in need. And it's not right to take advantage of people who are compassionate and generous. And that is why I don't like the term Homeless because it is too much of  a catch-all for everyone in that circumstance. I want to understand what kind of homeless they are. Is chronic, habitual, opportunistic any less offensive than the old labels of bums, tramps and hobos? According to Wikipedia, generally, the terms mean:

Bums are consistently homeless. It is their choice. They are probably the guys on the corner who sit there day after day asking for handouts so you can pay their way for them. They know and work the systems with no intention of doing anything else.

Tramps work when they are forced and count on the generosity of others to fill in. Maybe bums, with a conscience? Economically speaking, they need a push. They probably use the system to their advantage, but they are able-bodied and productive.

Hobos work when work comes up, whenever and whatever that is. They follow the job if they can, and panhandle until the next things pops up. These are migratory workers who live doing piecemeal work, specialized and skilled.

I'm all for helping those trying to help themselves. I really do understand that when bad things happen, sometimes the gap between security and homeless is a very small one. I am grateful for the gifts in my life. But it is hard to know the best thing to do when you want to help others.

My husband and I now offer food instead of money, but that doesn't always work out so well. It goes something like this: We are leaving a pizza place and half a pizza is left. We approach someone and offer it. They ask what it is before taking it. I stand there looking stupid, I'm sure, trying to process the question. Or this: Some people we offer to buy a meal for decline and want money instead. What am I missing here?

There had to be a 'next time' when I had to take that route and turn left, and couldn't get over to take the other street, and I am again at the corner on the red arrow and waiting for the light. There was a new guy working the corner who had been in a terrible fire with scars covering his face and arms and one withered hand. It was a hot day and he stood looking from car to car into the faces of people who had already looked away.

I don't carry money as a rule, but I fished out a little to share. He caught my eye and I nodded to him and only then did he approach the car. His gravely voice thanked me (THANKED me!) as I handed over the bill, and I found myself not feeling the goodwill one feels when they do that sort of thing, but being grateful for his manners in letting me decide for myself.