Homeless

There are few things more elitist and white than basing your understanding of the homeless off of an NPR program. The other day NPR had a fascinating piece on homeless people in New York as told by a formerly homeless alcoholic. The thesis was that homeless people were not homeless because of a lack of available jobs in the city, but mostly because they battled some sort of addiction or psychological disorder. 'The system' had not failed them in the way that people might suspect but had failed them nonetheless. The narrator went on to point out that food, clothing, and, to some degree, decent shelter were available for anyone who was homeless in New York. The narrator expanded on this point and said that anybody asking for money for food was being disingenuous (as many have long suspected); churches, shelters, soup kitchens etc. provide meals for anybody that walks through their doors.

I decided to put this idea of a homeless man not actually wanting food to the test in the Lower East Side a few nights ago. As I walked out of a pizza place with a fresh slice in hand, a homeless man approached me.

Homeless Man: Sir, sir, could you please help me, I am hungry and I am trying to get some money to buy some food.

Me: Here, if you are hungry, take this slice of pizza.

HM: No, that's OK.

Me: No, if you are hungry, take this slice of pizza.

HM: No that's for you. I just need some money to buy my own food.

Me: That's what I am saying, this can be your own food. Take this slice, and I'll get another.

HM: Fuck you.