Homelessness

I've heard before that the term hobo actually stands for homo bonus, or better man and that the only true life is the listless life on the road. some douche bag intellectual authors have posited the same things, while sipping tea in their southern california mansions. fuck you jack london.

I think that the homeless become resolved to their condition, and enter into a state of helplessness much like a patient in a hospital, where life just kind of rolls on them like waves, and they just bob along surviving. Once they lose their dignity, everything falls apart. And how could they not? the average person on the street will view a homeless person (if they look at all) as a sub-human. the homeless sit on the ground, sleep on the ground. they go to homeless shelters where they are robbed, raped, and beaten. they are roughed up by cops and security guards.

and how does it happen?
Well, i know someone who was trying to get a job. He had no college degree, but some experience in his field and a good head on his shoulders. he applied to job after job, getting rejection after rejection. He watched his savings dwindle. couldnt' afford a car or a cell phone. he lived at friends' houses, left one, was kicked out of another, and then things began to fall apart. He was on the verge of having no where to live. with no address, you can never get a job. luckily he found a job, immediately got a car and an apartment, and is now stable. but in this i saw how a good person can slip through the cracks. Imagine what would have happened had he not had a supportive family and community he could have fallen back on, or if he had a drug or alcohol problem. he would be under a highway overpass somewhere.

the homeless are by and large not the insane or addicted, but teeter on the edge of both when stripped of dignity and opportunity. I count my blessings daily (even though I bitch alot).