suffering fortunate
i drove past some guys standing outside of this building, just freezing their butts off... i felt so bad for them... they were gonna have to stay out in the cold all night.... they were homeless and alone... guess the shelters were all filled up...
i have no idea what to do in situations like that... i wanted to help in some way, but knew in the end that it would not accomplish much... and who knows, it's never safe for a woman to help in situations like that... anyway, it really sucks.... i was really feeling guilty about everything... my warm home...sleeping in a nice bed, with the knowledge that there were people in very close vicinity really suffering.....
all i could do was pray about it...
posted by ROYA @ 9:55 PM
5 Comments:
i couldn't agree with you more. it's so unfair and yet, as a woman, i feel so confused at what to do when things like that happen as well. there's a guy that would sleep in the corner of our covered parking garage and he'd have little or nothing to warm him up. this was when the weather was getting colder and i really wanted to take a blanket down there to him but didn't have anything. i remembered i had someone else's junky blanket in the back of my car but had to think about whether or not it'd be okay if i gave it to this homeless guy. i was hopeful so i called my friend and was surprised to hear him say no! i couldn't believe he wouldn't give up his nasty blanket to a guy who was freezing his bum off! anyway, i was sad about the whole thing and still don't know what to do. is it safe to approach a homeless man as a woman when there's no one accompanying you? and is it a good idea? i mean, if you give the person something once, will they keep asking you for more--thus, putting you in an "enabler" position where you're not helping them really but enabling them to beg and not work? i don't know. this was a good post. made me think again about it.
I was in downtown Atlanta this month on business and I noticed that especially late at night there were alot of homeless people walking around. One night after I left a restauant after midnight and was walking to my hotel, this guy walked up to me and asked for some change to buy food. I gave him the only change I had in my pocket (a quarter). I also had a box with left over buffalo wings. He asked what was in it. And I gave it to him. He seemed very appreciative. Then he asked me where I was going, and I told him that I was looking for my hotel (and immediately regretted saying it). He offered to help me find my hotel and then walked all the way with me to the front door of my hotel, through the dark sidewalks. All the time we were walking I was expecting that at any moment he would attack me and go for my wallet, but he didn't. When he was leaving, he asked again: are you sure you don't have any more change? I said yes. Then he shook my hand and left.
I don't know exactly what this experience means, except that you don't have to be a woman to be scared.
yeah, i guess anyone can be scared....
When my wife and were first married and going to school at Ga. State, we lived in this little studio apartment in midtown Atlanta. While we were living there, we met this guy named Eugene one day downtown. We gave him some food or money, or both. We ended up running into him once or twice after that, just from driving/walking in downtown. Once, we gave him a ride back to our place and offered him a shower. He declined the shower, but he did wash his feet. We weren't comfortable enough to offer him a place to sleep, but we gave him our heavy-duty camping sleeping bag, with the cold weather insulation (it was wintertime).
I think I ran into him a couple of times after that. One time, I saw him while I was driving and pulled over and asked if he had eaten. He hadn't, so I walked in with him to a Steak and Ale that was right there and he ordered some food to go, I paid for it, chatted with him for a few minutes and then left.
This was all back in 1995. I haven't seen him since then, mainly because I stopped living in downtown. I don't even know if he's still around. But he was nice. I can't remember why he was homeless in the first place (he told me, but I forgot).
I guess there's always a chance that someone may be trying to scam you, or be a dangerous person, but I try to, as often as I can, give people the benefit of the doubt. I guess I'd rather take the chance of being suckered, rather than miss out on a chance to help someone who really needs it. But I understand that being a woman adds a whole different element to the decision making process.
All that being said, it's always hard for me to decide when to give people money and when not to. It's never an easy decision for me. I'll often give food though, if I have it on me. That's easier for some reason.
I had this idea once of starting a shelter/rehab center for the homeless. Maybe when I'm a rich man.
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