THE LISTENING POST

Our friend Civis Fius offers some wisdom for the day. After you read it,
please share your thoughts about dealing with homeless people on the street.

"Talk to one of those homeless guys that habituate the bridges and
doorways near downtown, and that you pass everyday--no, not the really
scary ones, who may be too crazy to be helped. But lots of those guys
are just down on their luck, and are starved for some dignity and some
contact with "regular" people.

"Just one time, listen to their stories (sometimes fanciful, sometimes true).
Tell them about a shelter or foodbank in the area or some clinic that may
give them a decent pair of glasses (yeah, they probably know about
these service outlets already, and have some reason they don't
want to go there, or are ineligible, but mention them.)

"If the moment is right, give them a
few bucks, quickly and don't make a deal of it. Yeah, they may not
spend it on food, and this is no long term solution to fixing their
lives; there may be no long term solution. But a moment of contact
with an "outsider', a shard of dignity, that can sustain them
temporarily. They are not all crazies, some of them are just down on
their luck or have some flaw that makes them unreliable as workers or
family members. Don't congratulate yourself on your way home: spend
that time thinking of how you might do something more helpful the next
time."

What think?