Reading Money for College Project’s post about his Carnival Cruise: A Lesson in Wealth Distribution reminded me of the first time I noticed a homeless person. (I know, my mind works in odd ways. You just have to go with the flow.)

 

I can’t say for certain it was the first time I saw a homeless person.

Growing up in a small town, we had the well known strange folks- the green & purple lady (because she always wore green and purple, and even her house was green with purple trim) who wandered through the grocery store, shoplifting all sorts of things. Because it was a small town, the store just had a bag kid follow her around and make note of what she took, and her son would come by at the end of each month and pay for everything.

We also had the guy who thought he was the second coming. Maybe he only thought he was the prophet of the second coming. I don’t remember for certain. He was scary. I didn’t talk to him. But he was a veteran, and my father was the veteran’s benefits counselor (as well as the CO of our Guard unit), so he would go talk to him every time we saw him on the street. It’s possible he was homeless. I really don’t know.

But after my parents’ divorced, I moved from small town eastern MT to Reno, NV. Given that my mother and I spent a year living in low income housing, I am certain that sometime between the August before 8^th grade and the January of freshman year, I had to have seen at least one homeless person. But I don’t remember seeing one. For whatever reason, I never noticed.

 

But on a January day my freshman year of high school, I saw a guy holding a “will work for food” sign. And it made an impact.

Part of it was the timing. I’d been an extra in a made for tv movie and had gotten my check that day. My mom was making me deposit half of it into savings (which is what I had to do with all money I earned). The rest I was going to spend on a going away part for my best friend who was moving toFlorida. I had been complaining to my mother all morning about not being able to spend more of my money and what I wanted to spend it on.

Then, right after leaving the bank parking lot, I saw the guy.

8^th grade had been a tough year for my mom and I. She worked two jobs. I saw her in the morning, when I went into her room to say goodbye before heading to the bus stop, and then again when she got home from her second job, generally at the time I was going to bed. 10 minutes a day, if we were lucky.

But we had food, a roof over our heads, and clothes to wear. My babysitting money paid for me to go to my first ever concert, and I could buy the tapes I wanted. I knew money was tight. I didn’t ask for much, but I never lacked for anything I really needed.

My freshman year, we moved in with my step-dad, and with two incomes, things were better. Still, I thought I knew what it was like to not have much.

And then, I saw a guy holding a sign saying “will work for food”.

 

I felt guilt- not for what I had, I had earned that paycheck. But for complaining that my mother was only letting me spend half of it on a going away party. I’d like to say I rolled down the window and gave the guy $20. I didn’t. I had plans for my money. And I doubt my mom would have let me, anyway. But it still made me more aware.

 

It’s not much, I know, but my first order of business with the homeless now is to never look through them. To be aware of the person standing there and to acknowledge their presence. I smile at them, nod my head in greeting. I went 15 years without noticing a homeless person. I won’t do that again.

I almost never carry cash, so I don’t have any money to give the panhandlers. C sometimes does, and will, especially if they have a pet with them. But if I happen to have a piece of fruit in the car, a granola bar, something like that- I give it to them.

We used to drive through an underpass every day on our commute where there was always someone- often people with young kids. During that time, we always made sure to have extra snacks in the car, sometimes an extra pb&j, to hand out.

 

I can’t help everyone. And sometimes I’m not certain I can even actually help one homeless person. But what I can do is treat them like a fellow human being.

And that’s my challenge to everyone this holiday season- as you’re out rushing around trying to get a million things done, don’t look past they girl with the sign that says “anything helps”. Even if you don’t have (or won’t give on principal) money to give, still see that person. Acknowledge them with a smile or a nod of your head. We’re all people, and none of us wants to be invisible.