Still Homeless

"We looked for the homeless here," I said. Not really to anyone in particular, but not exactly quiet enough for no one to hear.

I haven't been able to shake the homeless surveys yet. I walk down Green Street and I see the places we looked. We turn corners and I see the abandoned restaurant. I see the bridges we looked under and the dumpsters we opened.

It looks different in the daylight.

It's funny how something that used to just be part of the landscape suddenly became real and... alive. Those just aren't street corners anymore... they're "homes"... and that changes the scenery.

Yesterday I was walking down Green Street with a friend and we walked by Walgreens, a typical panhandling spot. I saw Ben, one of the homeless men I befriended. He was sitting with his friend Matt and they were surrounded by cops. They seemed to be arguing and trying to prove something. I saw Ben reach into his wallet to pull out ID.

I wasn't sure what to do, but I wanted to do something. And instead... I did nothing. Oh, if my loose change would change anything, they could have it all. I wish that buying them a meal or sitting and talking or carrying out surveys would DO something...

But it doesn't. They're still homeless.