Over Thanksgiving break, I was watching the news with my mom when a story came on about a preacher in Dallas who decided to be homeless for a month. Honestly, I have thought about doing this someday but am unsure what the houseless community would think of someone who did such a thing, so my interest was piqued. The pastor said that the thing that surprised him the most was the profound loneliness in the lifestyle. He could handle the cold nights, the food insecurity, the lack of hot showers, and the threats to safety that he faced daily, but he found himself battling profound depression. He spent his days playing guitar on the street corners, hoping not for spare change but for someone to walk by and just notice him sitting there-- for a compliment or a moment of small talk. At the end of the day, he had made a few bucks but no friends.
This week alone, I've been approached by plenty of people on the streets--I even allowed a homeless man named Bo to walk me to school one morning last week. I bought him breakfast, which he wanted, but I think he would have walked with me regardless just to talk. Today, I was asked what time it was (a common question, and the same one that was asked of the man who kissed my hand from another of my posts). I've also been told I am "damn beautiful" multiple times the last few days, by different people, which I'm not sure I believe but graciously said thank you nonetheless. And kept walking. Yeah, that's right. Not in a hurry to be somewhere, just in a hurry to get to the other side of the street, to avoid the question we all think is coming: "Can you spare $___?"
Now that you know that the number one thing people on the streets want is a conversation and not money (in what is likely the majority of cases), I think it's pretty obvious what I'm going to ask you to do this week. Talk. That's it! And, of course, tell me what happens. Tell the world what happens. The world needs to know.
