The Winter Months

It is a little unexpected that the winter months make it harder to find people to give out lunches. It makes sense though, when it is cold, people stay inside. This past Saturday was unusually warm outside, so there were lots of people out and about. The turf war was on again, although this time it was with the forces of good instead of the forces of drug dealers. There was another group serving lunch at my turf on the east side. They had a pretty sweet set up too. They brought tables and it looked like they had hot food to serve. Most of the folks that were walking around got their lunch from my competition.

There was an article in The Pitch, a weekly Kansas City publication, where they interviewed a few homeless folks around town. Most of the people had some wisdom to offer about what it takes to live on the street. One guy said it is a constant turf war. You have to claim your spot and daily let others know it is yours. You can't afford to let another person stake a claim on prime real estate because the take will be diluted. Most of the guys had well developed strategies for bringing in tax free money.

The interviewer didn't include anything in the article about why the people were homeless, and if it was a choice, or if they have just fallen on hard times. I wonder...

This Saturday I took two friends with me, Jessica and Julie. I was a little concerned taking two girls with me, in light of what happened last week. I think that we have the forces of good working for us though, so we were once again safe.

I saw something I have never seen before. We were driving around the east side of town, and I saw a rough looking dude walking behind a building. When I pulled up, he was searching through a dumpster apparently looking for food. I gave him a lunch and drove away and that image stuck with me.

I think I am a little naive when it comes to understanding the reality of life on the street. The article in the pitch highlighted people who seemed to be relatively healthy, and made a pretty good living for themselves. I think it was a rose colored view of the homeless community. This guy was looking through the trash for food. And that is his life. I don't know where he had come from, or where he was headed, but he was looking through the trash for food. I have never had to look through the trash for food. I have no idea what this guy has to do to survive on a daily basis. I complain when my roommate accidentally erases an episode of The Office from our TiVo before I get a chance to watch it. This guy does his grocery shopping at Deffenbaugh.

Being exposed to the reality of the life of a homeless person has created more compassion in me for people who don't have much. I have to admit that when I started this little adventure, I was more passionate about building a nonprofit organization, the business of charity. It is a pleasant surprise that this is changing me. Certainly not something I planned for.