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Things eventually calmed down, and after awhile, it all became old news. But, the whole situation continued to bother me. All summer, I saw the stickers and other crap everywhere I went. It would occasionally come up in conversation. More often than not, my friends would confidently declare that these homeless kids are not really homeless, and that we should not feel sorry for them. “They are trolls,” they would say, “They are rich, spoiled children, who have chosen to be lazy, homeless, drug addicts.” Personally, I have always believed in the old saying, “People that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” “What perfect lives these people must live if they feel so comfortable making such harsh judgments and generalizations,” I would think to myself. But, then I would also think about the co-worker I originally saw making those same comments on the news back when I was waiting on line at a truck stop. I would wonder if anyone else knew that he had been arrested for dealing cocaine, and was working at our shop as part of a work furlough program when he made those comments on national television. I wondered if anyone else thought it was ironic that weeks later, he was wearing a “Please Don’t Feed Our Bums” trucker hat when the owner of our store called him into his office to fire him for routinely stealing money. I would wonder if somehow, the people that claimed to support the Black had never been down on there luck at some point in their lives, and whether it was asked for or not, had they never received help or charity from a kind stranger. Or, like my ex-co-worker, did they just lie and steal when times got tough. I wanted to ask these people if they agreed with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he once said, “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” Now, I’m not saying people should feel like they have to give homeless people money or food when approached on the street. But, I am saying that it shows lack of character to ridicule some one for doing so. And lately, I can’t help but wonder how much money the Black made off of bringing Ocean Beach a bunch of negative press right in the middle of prime tourist season, and how come everyone else seems to be ok with it.
Things eventually calmed down, and after awhile, it all became old news. But, the whole situation continued to bother me. All summer, I saw the stickers and other crap everywhere I went. It would occasionally come up in conversation. More often than not, my friends would confidently declare that these homeless kids are not really homeless, and that we should not feel sorry for them. “They are trolls,” they would say, “They are rich, spoiled children, who have chosen to be lazy, homeless, drug addicts.” Personally, I have always believed in the old saying, “People that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” “What perfect lives these people must live if they feel so comfortable making such harsh judgments and generalizations,” I would think to myself. But, then I would also think about the co-worker I originally saw making those same comments on the news back when I was waiting on line at a truck stop. I would wonder if anyone else knew that he had been arrested for dealing cocaine, and was working at our shop as part of a work furlough program when he made those comments on national television. I wondered if anyone else thought it was ironic that weeks later, he was wearing a “Please Don’t Feed Our Bums” trucker hat when the owner of our store called him into his office to fire him for routinely stealing money. I would wonder if somehow, the people that claimed to support the Black had never been down on there luck at some point in their lives, and whether it was asked for or not, had they never received help or charity from a kind stranger. Or, like my ex-co-worker, did they just lie and steal when times got tough. I wanted to ask these people if they agreed with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he once said, “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” Now, I’m not saying people should feel like they have to give homeless people money or food when approached on the street. But, I am saying that it shows lack of character to ridicule some one for doing so. And lately, I can’t help but wonder how much money the Black made off of bringing Ocean Beach a bunch of negative press right in the middle of prime tourist season, and how come everyone else seems to be ok with it.