This past weekend, my family and I took a trip to Portland, Oregon. One event we went to was the Portland Saturday Market frequented by hundreds of people every weekend. I thought this trip would be a great opportunity to fulfill my school assignment for community.
We saw a lot of characters while walking the city. The folks who drum away on five gallon buckets have always fascinated me. There were quite a few to listen and watch. One that made me smile was a young man drumming away by the river. Each time he would get a tip he would sing while drumming, “Thanks foyodollah." He saw me getting ready to take his photograph and pointed with one drum stick and sang “I'll smile foyo camera”. It made me smile and laugh and he came right back with more singing. “Yeah, I'll smile foyo camera”. So I gave him a tip and he sang some more.
We even saw some so called "celebrities." He didn’t like me taking his picture. He was charging people to pose with him, so that is more than likely why he gave me dirty looks. It isn’t like he is really famous or anything. He was either on X-Factor or American Idol. I can’t remember which one. He was one of the guys they made fun of. 
On Saturday night, my wife and I went out for a night on the town. We were going to a bar where I sang karaoke the last time we were in town, but I didn’t feel like singing. I was more hungry than anything. So we stopped in a local famous pizza joint “Old Town Pizzeria”. They were packed and we had to wait for almost two hours for our pie. It was worth it though, spending time with my wife and the pizza was awesome.  |
| My wife Michelle waiting for me to come back in outside of Old Town Pizza. |
While walking downtown, we walked by what everyone walks by in the city. The forgotten, lets not look or talk to them folks, the homeless. My wife says I am a sucker and they see me coming from a mile away. My wife and I have different opinions about this. I can’t walk by someone when they get my attention and keep walking. I have to say hi back. I have to respond to their hello, excuse me or whatever starts the interaction. I don’t always give out change, but I take the time to at least make them feel human and respond. I really feel for the homeless, and, even though I don’t know them, I care for them, worry about them and want to help them.
I watched how people went out of their way to avoid these people and completely ignore them. Yes, I too feel this way at times. Sometimes I don’t want to be bothered by them, but feel horrible because I treated them that way.
While sitting with my wife at dinner, I kept thinking about the homeless. When you walk around downtown, each door entrance has a body in a sleeping bag in it. You see families, husbands and wives, young and old. It really tugs at your heart. You want to do something for them. You want to know their story, why this happened to them, what put them in this situation.
When my wife and I were eating, I was thinking about our leftovers and how I wanted to give them to someone. My wife was thinking the same thing. She mentioned it to me when we were leaving. As we walked out of the pizza shop and walked past those homeless people, I noticed this very young guy sitting, wrapped up in a blanket with a sign. The sign read “Just hungry, don’t need anything else”. We gave him our leftovers. It was just a couple slices, but his face when we gave it to him ripped out my heart. He was so grateful, so thankful for us giving him the food. He couldn’t say anything and barely uttered the words thank you.
I know I should have taken photographs of the situation, but I couldn’t. I actually didn’t think about it till we had already walked away. He probably already felt so ashamed and I felt that I would add to that if I asked to take photographs of his situation. I was thinking about him all night. I could barely sleep. I wanted to get to know him and find out his story.
Sunday I said to my wife I need to find him and get to know him and get his story. So I went out in search of this man. I went to the doorway where we saw him. He wasn’t there. He must have missed out on his spot because it was taken by another. I walked around for about an hour looking. I wanted to get him a real meal and talk with him. Make him feel like a man again, to know someone cared.
Yes, there are people out there who give the homeless a bad name and make people not want to help. The people who act like they are homeless and make a living off of other peoples situations. It makes my wife and a lot of others not want to help. They are always asking themselves if these people are really homeless.
So I guess my long rambling about a forgotten community has to have some kind of point. I think if a homeless person says “can you spare some change," don’t ignore them like everyone else. At least acknowledge them and let them know they are still human by giving them a smile. Give them something. Just don't ignore them. They are a part of the community too.
No comments:
Post a Comment