Homelessness

As you drive downtown, or uptown or wherever you're heading and you stop at a stop light, you suddenly see this guy (or girl) sitting at the corner with a sign or a bucket collecting change from people.

At red lights, they usually get up and go through the traffic, asking for change from drivers who are stopped. Depending on people, they could give them change or not. You feel bad for them so you roll down your window and give them $5. They say thank you, you say no problem. The lights turn green, and off you go.

You may feel relieved that you helped someone with a basic breakfast, or part of it, but what you may not realize is how long they've been standing at that corner, or what scheme they have in their heads. Or how much they've collected all day. It's also none of our business what they do with the money that we give them. Drugs, prostitutes, food, clothes. We wouldn't know.

Homelessness is a real issue, and I have volunteered before at a homeless shelter so I do see the struggles that people face. We do whatever we can to try and help them get back on their feet, and start life over again.

Problem is, it's the fake people that ruin the desire to help those who really need it.

What do I mean by that? I have read/seen on the news how privileged people pretend to be homeless, dress up as homeless, and beg for money at street corners. At the end of the day, they take whatever they make back home, and use it to their own advantage.

There was a male dude (I believe it was in Toronto) who was caught on the news for pretending to be homeless. The crew had followed him from the street corner to his two storey home (and it was a pretty nice home), and tried to interview him. The guy was very reluctant, swore at the news crew, and threatened to call the police on them for trespassing onto his property.

This guy had worn dirty, old ripped clothes, made himself look disheveled, and fooled everyone. At the end of his "shift", he changes into his dress pants and dress shirt to go home.

This is not the first or only story about "fake homelessness" but it seems to be on the rise. This already gives the "privileged" people the perception that no one is to be trusted, so they stop helping those on the streets.

This is also the part that boils my blood, because it's also privileged people who take advantage of those in need, in order to gain something more for themselves. In the end, we have no clue if we should help or not, because we don't know if they're really homeless or just taking advantage of everyone else and the system for the homeless.

My experience of volunteering at the homeless shelter while in school really helped to open my eyes with what they really go through. Mental illness. Broken families. Drug addicts. Some of them had privileged lives before and lost everything because of gambling debts, or drug debts. There is already that stigma while they try to get their lives back together. 

And now it's becoming even more harder; people may not want to help, because they don't know if they're really in need of help or not. 

Life isn't fair. True. But we all need to play a role in making society a better place to live in. Not take advantage of each other. People say animals are so smart and so caring. We are given the gift to be dominant over animals, vegetables and plants; we do have the heart and the knowledge to be better than animals and plants. Because right now with our actions, we are worse than animals and plants. Do you really want to be compared to an elephant or a venus fly trap plant? A cucumber? 

As a hard working citizen, I want to be sure that my hard earned cash is going towards someone who is really homeless and needs it to get back on their feet. I pay enough taxes (damn you government!) and I'm sure the rest of you do too. I'm also sure you would like to see your hard earned cash go towards something positive (although we may never know). Not towards someone who clearly doesn't need it, to fund their shopping spree on cigars or watches.