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We Need To Have More Respect For Homeless People
The unhoused are not dirty, lazy, or deserving of their situation
I stared at the woman from through the car window — rail thin, staggering from the effort of standing by the side of the road. She held a disposable coffee cup, asking those coming off the highway for money.
I will never forget her eyes. Deflated, exhausted, devoid of hope.
The light changed to green and we sped off. As did everyone else in front of us.
No one stopped. No one helped her. Hardly anyone even looked at her.
Over the last few years, homelessness in my small town in Ontario, Canada has become more apparent. It was always in the downtown core, but now it has spread. It is hard now to come off a highway exit or stop at a red light on a busy street and not see someone begging for money.
People roll up their windows, turn their heads, pretend they are engaged in something else. Do anything they can to ignore the person asking for help.
This is how our society treats those who are homeless. As though they are an eyesore and something to be ignored.
They are treated as subhuman, dirty, diseased, and not worthy of respect.
