6 ms·

There's only one homeless man left in Times Square

48 points by budu3 17y ago

_delirium 17y ago
On the whole efforts to move homeless people to various sorts of housing seem like a good idea, but don't the ones in this article come across as a bit unnecessary? I mean, visiting him every day, memorizing his walking habits, etc.? He clearly seems not to be posing a threat to anyone, and if he's the only homeless person in the entire area, it's hard to say that homelessness is causing the area a major problem or inconvenience. Why not just leave him alone, or at least inquire less often than daily as to whether he'd like to move in somewhere?
- philwelch 17y ago
  Why can't they just leave the man alone, if it's what he wants? The man's practically an institution now--he's adapted to the lifestyle and Times Square has adapted to him. Where's the harm?
  - Semiapies 17y ago
    They probably want to be able to announce "no homeless people in Times Square".
    - petercooper 17y ago
      If they really wanted to do that, they'd have done it by now - the cops have the power to move them on or bring them in (though not in all jurisdictions). From second hand experience (talking to these guys) there are areas of LA where the homeless are constantly chased away from and not allowed to settle.
      - Semiapies 17y ago
        It's clear they're looking for any legal basis to do so - to the point of threatening to have someone follow him around all day, every day, "talking" to people in the area to figure out his needs, and trying to discourage people from giving him food.
        petercooper 17y ago
        Is it illegal for authorities to "move him on" in NYC? It happens a lot across the rest of the country (though whether it's entirely legal or not is another matter). I suspect NYC has more liberal laws in this regard.
    - aarongough 17y ago
      That's exactly what I was thinking. The other homeless were helped at east in part because it was the right thing to do, but with Heavy it seems like they just want to jump that last hurdle. From the quotes in the article it seems like they've taken him wanting to stay as a direct challenge, it's not really about helping him any more.
      - electromagnetic 17y ago
        I find it interesting that in a recession, during a time of heightened homelessness why are they focusing on one man in Time Square. Is it perchance because Time Square is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New York? It's all I could think reading this. It's like a desperate attempt to create a fallacy that will ensure tourists will happily spend their dollars in stores, it doesn't appear to be a genuine humanitarian effort because harassing someone daily certainly isn't humanitarian - heck if I lived or worked around Time Square I'd probably offer to file a claim for injunctive relief on Heavy's behalf to keep the 'humanitarians' off his back.
  - aarongough 17y ago
    I agree. I think that helping and housing people that want the help is great, even if they have to be talked into it a little. But if Heavy really is happy where he is and wants to stay then what right do they have to force him to do otherwise, which is effectively what they are doing when they say that they want to prevent his neighbors from 'supporting his homelessness'...
  - melling 17y ago
    Now let's pretend that he decides to live in front of your house. That's ok, right? What's the harm? Providing for homeless people is definitely society's responsibility. I don't think we really want to make people "institutions" and call them iconic because they've camped out somewhere for a long time. If 100 people decide to camp out in Time Square because there's a lot of tourist quarters to gather, is this ok? Should we grant seniority if there are ever too many? I'm sure you've heard the stories about "homeless" people in NYC who make a good living begging for small change and have nice apartments.
    - wdewind 17y ago
      Those stories are lies. Even people with real jobs don't have nice apartments in NYC.
- Goladus 17y ago
  The article doesn't say they actually ask him to leave every day. Just that they visit every day. It sounds like the people visiting him are also responsible for various other aspects of Times Square, and tracking the only homeless guy there does not seem like a particularly onerous task. Checking up on him frequently to be sure he isn't dead or dying doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me.
UmYeah 17y ago
I started working around Times Square a few months ago and have walked past this guy daily. One day I had a half sandwich I didn't want so I give it to him. I now get a friendly smile and hello every time I walk by him. While I was hoping this article would have more information on his background, I am glad to now have a name that I can say hello to when I walk by.
johnohara 17y ago
When I read articles like this I think about all those FEMA trailers that went unused because of bureaucratic nonsense, incompetence and corruption. This country has and owes a lot of money but we waste a sh--load too.
- sutro 17y ago
  Given that the FEMA trailers were poisonous (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/) it's probably a good thing that many remained unoccupied.
  - ars 17y ago
    Have you ever measured the levels in a new car? It's about the same. Or the levels given off by a new sofa? Or new carpeting? What about trailers purchased on the regular market, are they any different? BTW, I'm not trying to say we should ignore the issue, but rather extend it everywhere.
    - JoeAltmaier 17y ago
      You don't live 24X7 in those things, usually.
mcantor 17y ago
Maybe it's the naive and hopeless romantic in me, but when I read the part about "devising a strategy to prevent people from encouraging his homelessness," I couldn't help but feel a gentle pang of indignation. I almost feel like it's too bad that they can't accept this man for the "iconic" symbol that he seems to be, according to locals.
- wdewind 17y ago
  “I just have this dream that all of a sudden something will snap, and he’ll say, I’d love to have housing,” said Amie Pospisil, an associate director at Common Ground Community, a nonprofit that conducts street outreach. “I don’t rule out that it could happen.” REEEKS of judgment. Maybe he's fine on his own? I think it's fair to bet that he's been homeless longer than the outreach people have been outreach people, maybe he knows something they dont (like he's doing what he wants to?). I'm all for helping those who want it, but there is a thin line between assistance and judgment as so many others are pointing out...
  - qeorge 17y ago
    I know what you're saying, but its important not to discount the mental illness usually associated with chronic homelessness. Housing certainly should not be forced upon him, but when someone is hurting themselves sometimes you have to push them to stop. Its never so black and white.
    - electromagnetic 17y ago
      Is he considered mentally ill because he's homeless or is he homeless because he's mentally ill? There's a distinction between the two, and how my reading of the article comes across is that they're suggesting he's mentally ill because he doesn't want housing. I'd assert that the people doing cross-nation marathons spending night after night sleeping in a tent on a roadside are far more mentally ill than a man choosing not to have a home. He doesn't need to be treated for being homeless, if he has a condition he needs to be treated for its cause not its effect. Where I grew up there was a chronic homeless man. Throughout the summer months he saved enough money to ride out the winter in a cheap apartment. He busked with a guitar and harmonica and was homeless by choice. He frequently refused people's donation if they threw in anything too big, especially to the kids and teenagers. As he once said to me, he chose to be homeless and live off generosity rather than be homed and live off charity.
korch 17y ago
While I think it's great what these outreach organizations have accomplished, the tone of this article is a perfect example of how journalists poorly depict homelessness. It's de-humanizing. For a second there I did a double take because it resembled an old article from The Onion, which was pointing out how journalists do this so often that nobody notices. Do a search and replace on the article, replace the homeless man's name "Heavy" with "animal", and the article still makes perfect sense, except instead of being about sociology, it's now zoology, like one of those fluff local news pieces about some wild animal that ended up in the city limits and was causing a nuisance. Except it's a man.
- Goladus 17y ago
  That's a rather important difference though, don't you think? It's one thing to "make sense" after changing a name to 'animal' it's another for it to mean the same thing. "There's one homeless man left in Times Square" That is news. The article does not stray very far from the point, and covers a decent amount in a limited space. It's an effective article.
  - jcl 17y ago
    It's one thing to "make sense" after changing a name to 'animal' it's another for it to mean the same thing. I got the same impression as korch. In several ways, it does mean the same thing. They've got a bunch of people "studying his habits and movements", figuring out where he eats and sleeps, and telling the population not to feed him because it's actually bad for him. People, even other homeless people, are not usually treated this way, but wild animals are. At the root of the similarity, I think, is an assumption that Heavy is not capable of deciding what is in his best interest -- that he can't be reasoned with but that he might be coaxed to do what they want.
    - Nwallins 17y ago
      > They've got a bunch of people "studying his habits and movements", figuring out where he eats and sleeps, and telling the population not to feed him because it's actually bad for him. > People, even other homeless people, are not usually treated this way, but wild animals are. Actually, it sounds to me like scholars doing social science. They gathering facts and analyzing behavior. > At the root of the similarity, I think, is an assumption that Heavy is not capable of deciding what is in his best interest Is this an assumption? Or is it a conclusion, based on evidence: > “I just have this dream that all of a sudden something will snap, and he’ll say, I’d love to have housing,” said Amie Pospisil > Heavy was far from alone on the streets of Times Square in the 1990s, when he began sleeping there frequently in the midst of a roiling mess of drug dealing, prostitution and crime. > The social workers at Common Ground said they have no intention of pressuring Heavy to leave the streets. It sounds like you are saying Heavy is capable of deciding what is in his best interest. If that is the case, then it follows that living on the streets of Times Square is in his best interest, since that is what he decided. Are you really comfortable with this conclusion? The social workers, on the other hand, seem genuinely concerned for him, but they are hesitant to overstep the bounds of human dignity and 'pressure' him, physically or otherwise, to make more prudent decisions. I see little justification for a critique of the social workers, here.
lukev 17y ago
So let me get this straight. They're visiting this guy, daily, trying to get him to do something he obviously doesn't want, while there are probably LOTS of homeless people in other districts dying (sometimes literally) for a safe, warm place to live. Those aren't humanitarians, those are enforcers for the bourgeoisie who don't want to have to look at poor black people every day.
- Goladus 17y ago
  That is a bold accusation to make given that you have never met any of the workers. Reality is never as simple as you assert. It's almost certain that the people who visit him daily have far more compassion than you would have us believe, and certainly care far more about this man in particular than you do.
  - lukev 17y ago
    I'm sure you're right - I was making my point rather hyperbolically. But I think the point is valid: a lot of work to help "the homeless" is ultimately motivated more by removing eyesores and eliminating guilt-trips than actually helping people. Out of sight, out of mind. And yes, I know it's human nature, but that doesn't make it right.
    - potatolicious 17y ago
      I disagree - I volunteer with the homeless here in Seattle and I have not gotten that impression from anyone I've worked with here. The city government, city council, and general people are more interested in removing eye-sores and guilt trips. But by and large the aid workers are genuine - heck, they are the only people who seem to perceive the homeless as people. So the question is, who are these aid workers working for - if they represent the city directly, then yeah, I'd be inclined to call shenanigans. If they represent an apolitical aid organization though, I'd be hesitant to make that accusation. Part of the complexity of the situation is that a lot of the homeless have severe mental illnesses, and many are dangers to themselves because of it. This is why I don't immediately jump to the "enforcer" conclusion - it may very well be that the social workers are trying to get him to a place where his mental illness may be treated. Personally I'm against efforts by cities to simply get the homeless out of sight - I think most people in society sorely need a daily reminder of just how lucky they are, and how much they are not doing to lift up those around them. Let the ugliness and ills of the city shine openly, it's the only way we will ever be compelled to fix them.
dhyasama 17y ago
"Housing first" has been pretty successful so far. It just makes sense on so many levels, including economic. Just Google it for more info. The fact that there is only one homeless man left in Times Square is kind of amazing. Of course there are other factors (keep in mind homeless numbers in NYC are up overall) such as a policy to move the homeless away from touristy areas such as Times Square. On a side note, my girlfriend is opening a residential shelter for women on Monday! Three levels of housing (short, medium, and long term) and almost five years in the making. It's called Florence House (part of Preble Street) in Portland, Maine.
theblackbox 17y ago
Wasn't going to post as I struggle to justify the relevance of the parent and my response to the community, but think it's ultimately of little consequence and the words themselves are important to me, so... ~OT: I once worked as a charity fundraiser and had more than a few encounters with homelessness, one of which (a few years after leaving the job) left me quite stunned. The company was a bit of a stop-gap for those that could and would handle it, with accommodation, food, and a pretty interesting lifestyle all thrown in. I once found myself in a pub, however, and a homeless guy came up and asked me for a bit of spare change. Having built up a healthy respect for people and torn down my impulse to judge on the basis of only a very small amount of information (from my exp. in said job), I gave the guy what I could when, looking in his eyes, I saw my friend. A guy I had worked with as a fundraiser, who, after a brief spell of bad luck had fallen through the gaps of society and ended up having to constantly climb. I did what I could for the guy, but more importantly he did so much for me - I had never realised destitution was so close (or that the climb back up was so high). Another time I met something I can only describe as otherworldly.... it was almost sacred. Take what you will from it. I was approached (this was while fundraising) by a small, fat, black guy in comfortable, though slightly disheveled clothes in his late 50s or thereabouts. As he came close it occured to me that he didn't exist... I honestly cannot understand the instantaneous clarity of that thought... maybe he was just too much of a cliche for my mind to deal with, but there was something more, an aura that came from somewhere deep within him, from somewhere I don't think I have. He took my hand and started talking to me as though it was the most ordinary things in the world, and he proceeded to tell me about his pebble. He'd been fondling it in his other hand and as I noticed it he started telling me about where he'd found it and all the things that could have been while that pebble had remained hidden. And that, he said, was his point. My pebble was currently hidden, and I was close to finding it. It could be a stone, a coin, a woman or even the world! The point was that it was mine and that it had been sitting, passive, until the day I, and I alone, would come across it and bind myself to it... I don't even know why that's worth sharing with you. Most people I tell, I'm sure, just think I was seduced by the romantic ramblings of a mad old man... maybe so, but I think that moment, myself, the old man and what he said deserve a great deal more dignity, even divinity, than that. I choose to make that moment spiritual (and I'm not by any means "religious")....
akkartik 17y ago
Reading about Heavy reminded me of Austin's Leslie Cochrane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cochran http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cochran). He stood for mayor. After reading his manifesto I would vote for him. Too bad I don't get a vote.
weeksie 17y ago
There's nothing I love more than watching middle and upper-middle class people talk knowingly about the homeless; both sides indignantly insisting that the other just doesn't understand it. No judgement, mind you, it's just one of those issues that brings out the opinions in people least qualified to give them.

48 points by budu3 17y ago

On the whole efforts to move homeless people to various sorts of housing seem like a good idea, but don't the ones in this article come across as a bit unnecessary? I mean, visiting him every day, memorizing his walking habits, etc.? He clearly seems not to be posing a threat to anyone, and if he's the only homeless person in the entire area, it's hard to say that homelessness is causing the area a major problem or inconvenience. Why not just leave him alone, or at least inquire less often than daily as to whether he'd like to move in somewhere?

philwelch 17y ago
Why can't they just leave the man alone, if it's what he wants? The man's practically an institution now--he's adapted to the lifestyle and Times Square has adapted to him. Where's the harm?
- Semiapies 17y ago
  They probably want to be able to announce "no homeless people in Times Square".
  - petercooper 17y ago
    If they really wanted to do that, they'd have done it by now - the cops have the power to move them on or bring them in (though not in all jurisdictions). From second hand experience (talking to these guys) there are areas of LA where the homeless are constantly chased away from and not allowed to settle.
    - Semiapies 17y ago
      It's clear they're looking for any legal basis to do so - to the point of threatening to have someone follow him around all day, every day, "talking" to people in the area to figure out his needs, and trying to discourage people from giving him food.
      - petercooper 17y ago
        Is it illegal for authorities to "move him on" in NYC? It happens a lot across the rest of the country (though whether it's entirely legal or not is another matter). I suspect NYC has more liberal laws in this regard.
  - aarongough 17y ago
    That's exactly what I was thinking. The other homeless were helped at east in part because it was the right thing to do, but with Heavy it seems like they just want to jump that last hurdle. From the quotes in the article it seems like they've taken him wanting to stay as a direct challenge, it's not really about helping him any more.
    - electromagnetic 17y ago
      I find it interesting that in a recession, during a time of heightened homelessness why are they focusing on one man in Time Square. Is it perchance because Time Square is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New York? It's all I could think reading this. It's like a desperate attempt to create a fallacy that will ensure tourists will happily spend their dollars in stores, it doesn't appear to be a genuine humanitarian effort because harassing someone daily certainly isn't humanitarian - heck if I lived or worked around Time Square I'd probably offer to file a claim for injunctive relief on Heavy's behalf to keep the 'humanitarians' off his back.
- aarongough 17y ago
  I agree. I think that helping and housing people that want the help is great, even if they have to be talked into it a little. But if Heavy really is happy where he is and wants to stay then what right do they have to force him to do otherwise, which is effectively what they are doing when they say that they want to prevent his neighbors from 'supporting his homelessness'...
- melling 17y ago
  Now let's pretend that he decides to live in front of your house. That's ok, right? What's the harm? Providing for homeless people is definitely society's responsibility. I don't think we really want to make people "institutions" and call them iconic because they've camped out somewhere for a long time. If 100 people decide to camp out in Time Square because there's a lot of tourist quarters to gather, is this ok? Should we grant seniority if there are ever too many? I'm sure you've heard the stories about "homeless" people in NYC who make a good living begging for small change and have nice apartments.
  - wdewind 17y ago
    Those stories are lies. Even people with real jobs don't have nice apartments in NYC.
Goladus 17y ago
The article doesn't say they actually ask him to leave every day. Just that they visit every day. It sounds like the people visiting him are also responsible for various other aspects of Times Square, and tracking the only homeless guy there does not seem like a particularly onerous task. Checking up on him frequently to be sure he isn't dead or dying doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me.

UmYeah 17y ago

I started working around Times Square a few months ago and have walked past this guy daily. One day I had a half sandwich I didn't want so I give it to him. I now get a friendly smile and hello every time I walk by him. While I was hoping this article would have more information on his background, I am glad to now have a name that I can say hello to when I walk by.

johnohara 17y ago

When I read articles like this I think about all those FEMA trailers that went unused because of bureaucratic nonsense, incompetence and corruption. This country has and owes a lot of money but we waste a sh--load too.

sutro 17y ago
Given that the FEMA trailers were poisonous (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/) it's probably a good thing that many remained unoccupied.
- ars 17y ago
  Have you ever measured the levels in a new car? It's about the same. Or the levels given off by a new sofa? Or new carpeting? What about trailers purchased on the regular market, are they any different? BTW, I'm not trying to say we should ignore the issue, but rather extend it everywhere.
  - JoeAltmaier 17y ago
    You don't live 24X7 in those things, usually.

mcantor 17y ago

Maybe it's the naive and hopeless romantic in me, but when I read the part about "devising a strategy to prevent people from encouraging his homelessness," I couldn't help but feel a gentle pang of indignation. I almost feel like it's too bad that they can't accept this man for the "iconic" symbol that he seems to be, according to locals.

wdewind 17y ago
“I just have this dream that all of a sudden something will snap, and he’ll say, I’d love to have housing,” said Amie Pospisil, an associate director at Common Ground Community, a nonprofit that conducts street outreach. “I don’t rule out that it could happen.” REEEKS of judgment. Maybe he's fine on his own? I think it's fair to bet that he's been homeless longer than the outreach people have been outreach people, maybe he knows something they dont (like he's doing what he wants to?). I'm all for helping those who want it, but there is a thin line between assistance and judgment as so many others are pointing out...
- qeorge 17y ago
  I know what you're saying, but its important not to discount the mental illness usually associated with chronic homelessness. Housing certainly should not be forced upon him, but when someone is hurting themselves sometimes you have to push them to stop. Its never so black and white.
  - electromagnetic 17y ago
    Is he considered mentally ill because he's homeless or is he homeless because he's mentally ill? There's a distinction between the two, and how my reading of the article comes across is that they're suggesting he's mentally ill because he doesn't want housing. I'd assert that the people doing cross-nation marathons spending night after night sleeping in a tent on a roadside are far more mentally ill than a man choosing not to have a home. He doesn't need to be treated for being homeless, if he has a condition he needs to be treated for its cause not its effect. Where I grew up there was a chronic homeless man. Throughout the summer months he saved enough money to ride out the winter in a cheap apartment. He busked with a guitar and harmonica and was homeless by choice. He frequently refused people's donation if they threw in anything too big, especially to the kids and teenagers. As he once said to me, he chose to be homeless and live off generosity rather than be homed and live off charity.

korch 17y ago

While I think it's great what these outreach organizations have accomplished, the tone of this article is a perfect example of how journalists poorly depict homelessness. It's de-humanizing. For a second there I did a double take because it resembled an old article from The Onion, which was pointing out how journalists do this so often that nobody notices. Do a search and replace on the article, replace the homeless man's name "Heavy" with "animal", and the article still makes perfect sense, except instead of being about sociology, it's now zoology, like one of those fluff local news pieces about some wild animal that ended up in the city limits and was causing a nuisance. Except it's a man.

Goladus 17y ago
That's a rather important difference though, don't you think? It's one thing to "make sense" after changing a name to 'animal' it's another for it to mean the same thing. "There's one homeless man left in Times Square" That is news. The article does not stray very far from the point, and covers a decent amount in a limited space. It's an effective article.
- jcl 17y ago
  It's one thing to "make sense" after changing a name to 'animal' it's another for it to mean the same thing. I got the same impression as korch. In several ways, it does mean the same thing. They've got a bunch of people "studying his habits and movements", figuring out where he eats and sleeps, and telling the population not to feed him because it's actually bad for him. People, even other homeless people, are not usually treated this way, but wild animals are. At the root of the similarity, I think, is an assumption that Heavy is not capable of deciding what is in his best interest -- that he can't be reasoned with but that he might be coaxed to do what they want.
  - Nwallins 17y ago
    > They've got a bunch of people "studying his habits and movements", figuring out where he eats and sleeps, and telling the population not to feed him because it's actually bad for him. > People, even other homeless people, are not usually treated this way, but wild animals are. Actually, it sounds to me like scholars doing social science. They gathering facts and analyzing behavior. > At the root of the similarity, I think, is an assumption that Heavy is not capable of deciding what is in his best interest Is this an assumption? Or is it a conclusion, based on evidence: > “I just have this dream that all of a sudden something will snap, and he’ll say, I’d love to have housing,” said Amie Pospisil > Heavy was far from alone on the streets of Times Square in the 1990s, when he began sleeping there frequently in the midst of a roiling mess of drug dealing, prostitution and crime. > The social workers at Common Ground said they have no intention of pressuring Heavy to leave the streets. It sounds like you are saying Heavy is capable of deciding what is in his best interest. If that is the case, then it follows that living on the streets of Times Square is in his best interest, since that is what he decided. Are you really comfortable with this conclusion? The social workers, on the other hand, seem genuinely concerned for him, but they are hesitant to overstep the bounds of human dignity and 'pressure' him, physically or otherwise, to make more prudent decisions. I see little justification for a critique of the social workers, here.

lukev 17y ago

So let me get this straight. They're visiting this guy, daily, trying to get him to do something he obviously doesn't want, while there are probably LOTS of homeless people in other districts dying (sometimes literally) for a safe, warm place to live. Those aren't humanitarians, those are enforcers for the bourgeoisie who don't want to have to look at poor black people every day.

Goladus 17y ago
That is a bold accusation to make given that you have never met any of the workers. Reality is never as simple as you assert. It's almost certain that the people who visit him daily have far more compassion than you would have us believe, and certainly care far more about this man in particular than you do.
- lukev 17y ago
  I'm sure you're right - I was making my point rather hyperbolically. But I think the point is valid: a lot of work to help "the homeless" is ultimately motivated more by removing eyesores and eliminating guilt-trips than actually helping people. Out of sight, out of mind. And yes, I know it's human nature, but that doesn't make it right.
  - potatolicious 17y ago
    I disagree - I volunteer with the homeless here in Seattle and I have not gotten that impression from anyone I've worked with here. The city government, city council, and general people are more interested in removing eye-sores and guilt trips. But by and large the aid workers are genuine - heck, they are the only people who seem to perceive the homeless as people. So the question is, who are these aid workers working for - if they represent the city directly, then yeah, I'd be inclined to call shenanigans. If they represent an apolitical aid organization though, I'd be hesitant to make that accusation. Part of the complexity of the situation is that a lot of the homeless have severe mental illnesses, and many are dangers to themselves because of it. This is why I don't immediately jump to the "enforcer" conclusion - it may very well be that the social workers are trying to get him to a place where his mental illness may be treated. Personally I'm against efforts by cities to simply get the homeless out of sight - I think most people in society sorely need a daily reminder of just how lucky they are, and how much they are not doing to lift up those around them. Let the ugliness and ills of the city shine openly, it's the only way we will ever be compelled to fix them.

dhyasama 17y ago

"Housing first" has been pretty successful so far. It just makes sense on so many levels, including economic. Just Google it for more info. The fact that there is only one homeless man left in Times Square is kind of amazing. Of course there are other factors (keep in mind homeless numbers in NYC are up overall) such as a policy to move the homeless away from touristy areas such as Times Square. On a side note, my girlfriend is opening a residential shelter for women on Monday! Three levels of housing (short, medium, and long term) and almost five years in the making. It's called Florence House (part of Preble Street) in Portland, Maine.

theblackbox 17y ago

Wasn't going to post as I struggle to justify the relevance of the parent and my response to the community, but think it's ultimately of little consequence and the words themselves are important to me, so... ~OT: I once worked as a charity fundraiser and had more than a few encounters with homelessness, one of which (a few years after leaving the job) left me quite stunned. The company was a bit of a stop-gap for those that could and would handle it, with accommodation, food, and a pretty interesting lifestyle all thrown in. I once found myself in a pub, however, and a homeless guy came up and asked me for a bit of spare change. Having built up a healthy respect for people and torn down my impulse to judge on the basis of only a very small amount of information (from my exp. in said job), I gave the guy what I could when, looking in his eyes, I saw my friend. A guy I had worked with as a fundraiser, who, after a brief spell of bad luck had fallen through the gaps of society and ended up having to constantly climb. I did what I could for the guy, but more importantly he did so much for me - I had never realised destitution was so close (or that the climb back up was so high). Another time I met something I can only describe as otherworldly.... it was almost sacred. Take what you will from it. I was approached (this was while fundraising) by a small, fat, black guy in comfortable, though slightly disheveled clothes in his late 50s or thereabouts. As he came close it occured to me that he didn't exist... I honestly cannot understand the instantaneous clarity of that thought... maybe he was just too much of a cliche for my mind to deal with, but there was something more, an aura that came from somewhere deep within him, from somewhere I don't think I have. He took my hand and started talking to me as though it was the most ordinary things in the world, and he proceeded to tell me about his pebble. He'd been fondling it in his other hand and as I noticed it he started telling me about where he'd found it and all the things that could have been while that pebble had remained hidden. And that, he said, was his point. My pebble was currently hidden, and I was close to finding it. It could be a stone, a coin, a woman or even the world! The point was that it was mine and that it had been sitting, passive, until the day I, and I alone, would come across it and bind myself to it... I don't even know why that's worth sharing with you. Most people I tell, I'm sure, just think I was seduced by the romantic ramblings of a mad old man... maybe so, but I think that moment, myself, the old man and what he said deserve a great deal more dignity, even divinity, than that. I choose to make that moment spiritual (and I'm not by any means "religious")....

akkartik 17y ago

Reading about Heavy reminded me of Austin's Leslie Cochrane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cochran http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cochran). He stood for mayor. After reading his manifesto I would vote for him. Too bad I don't get a vote.

weeksie 17y ago

There's nothing I love more than watching middle and upper-middle class people talk knowingly about the homeless; both sides indignantly insisting that the other just doesn't understand it. No judgement, mind you, it's just one of those issues that brings out the opinions in people least qualified to give them.