On my way to the University of New Mexico (for a walk and art therapy), I’ve passed an uncounted number of homeless people. Those who don’t pay attention to red lights and walk around aimlessly. Those who can barely walk at all and some in wheelchairs. The other day, I saw a woman waiting for a bus and talking on the phone. A man drove by, slowed down, and asked her something out of his car window. She angrily shook her head and he drove away.

This homeless woman’s sign says, “Anyone got some weed? Sharing is caring.” Although I’m currently out of the only medicine available to me, I really wished I could’ve given her a joint. And since it’s the end of the month, I don’t have much food to share either. I had a thought about how nice it would be to drive around and give free food to the homeless. I also thought about how scary it would be to live on the streets. I’m not sure I’d be strong enough to survive.

During this holiday season, please do something kind for someone who has less than you, even if it’s just sharing a smile. Who knows, one day you may see me on the street corner, begging for anything that would help me survive.

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33 thoughts on “Survival”

  2. You have a kind heart. I am sure a kindly smile was equally welcome to them as food or the requested weed would have been, considering most people tend to either ignore the homeless or act nasty towards them.

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  4. Are you in Albuquerque? It’s one of the 71 cities in the US where it’s illegal to feed the homeless. Can you believe that? Let’s just kill the people on the street, that’s really what they are saying. Don’t feed them, they’ll go away….because they’re dead. They don’t understand how easy it can happen to anyone.
    I may not be able to give often, but I always look them in the eye and speek, they need their dignity at least.

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    • WHAT??? Hmmm, maybe I should go to Albuquerque and just fucking go feed the homeless. Blatantly. They want to arrest me for that? Argh, that just steams me up. In Israel where my home is, we have food distribution centers, vans that take hot food to the street people…we have a service that collects wedding meals that were not served, school lunches that were not served, and takes them to the homeless. We have a law that hotels have to hold open a certain percentage of rooms for the homeless when the weather gets bad, either too hot or too cold. Many homeless people don’t want to come off the street, so we bring them coats and sleeping bags and tarps and hot food. We don’t ask if they “deserve” to be taken care of.

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    • I didn’t know that it was illegal in Albuquerque, although I’ve read about other cities, like Houston. Even charitable organizations are not allowed to feed the homeless in Houston. But I’ve noticed that there is very little police presence in the areas where the homeless roam about in my city, so who would know? Maybe I could do something on Christmas Day? Seems like such a very small thing for such a huge problem.

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  5. When we used to go thru Dallas at the stop sign we would always give as much cigs as they asked for if they seen me smoking or if I didn’t have anything to give I would ask them if they wanted one lol… my better half usually always had I would say 5.00 in change or more in his pockets so he would give it all to them…I have had great conversations with them…
    Once my daughter had to have an operation and we were downtown Dallas and I was out smoking and thinking and walking around even tho the guard said not too at dark but I was walking and sitting and met some really nice people…even once when I was sick and outside a stranger came up to me and we talked till my IV went off and battery went almost dead lol…
    I think we should take care of them meaning this should not be happening in the USA…and it can happen to any of us at any time… On another note…
    How was your Thanksgiving gurl???..
    Hugggs
    Suzette

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      • awww I wish you were closer you could have came over here for Thanksgiving or I could have brought you over a plate lol…
        Hey that stove top stuffing is just as good…I love homemade the mostest lol…
        Heck we made dinner and all that but didn’t eat till last nighters …we have done this for the last few years…and we didn’t have a lot of food before hand to stuff on either so I just don’t know…wtf happens…even on Christmas it happens…

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        • Please fill me in on what you had for your Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and stuffing, sure. But what else? Mashed potatoes and corn? Buttered noodles with gravy? Can I get some details, please? 🙂

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        • celery with peanut butter and cream cheese…
          yuppers mash potats and green bean casserole and yams and cranberry and rolls and gravy and…devil eggs all homemade …I think that I am forgetting something…hmm..
          Well we had chips and dips but didn’t put them out lol…oh green olives and sweet pickles ummm….homemade pumpkin and pecan pies …I usually make a plate of cheese and pepperoni and different crackers things like that but didn’t this year lol…

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        • Right now, I’d like to dive into a big bowl of gravy. Gravy over buttered rice. Gravy over buttered noodles. Gravy over buttered mashed potatoes. Gravy over buttered bread. Gravy. Gravy. Gravy. (And butter.) 🙂

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        • I take it you like gravy and um butter lol.. shitt out of luck on the gravy they just ate the last of it…see you should have been here gurl…
          I love gravy tooo..on rice too lol..

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  6. I will never forget when I was young.. my moms friend told me .. you’re strong enough that even if you had to leave on the streets you would make it.. a lot pressure to live up too.. always being the strong one.. the tough one.. but on the inside I was weak to depression and anxiety.. I was weak to the fear of death.. so now I’m learning that it’s okay to not be strong for everyone.. not even for me..

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  7. “There but for (whatever) go I.”

    All of us are a heartbeat away from depending on the kindness of others. I try to help whenever I can. I know people who think the homeless people carrying signs are fake. I think anyone who’d do a thing like that is so fucked up, they definitely need help, so I give whatever I can and I don’t care what they do with it. That’s their business. My business is to try to give charity at every opportunity that is open to me. I’m hoping my skeleton will cooperate so I can get back to volunteering in the shelters. If you’re ever hurting for food you can volunteer in the soup kitchen and eat very well without feeling like a beggar! In our tradition, beggars are holy. Anyway. This is a topic I can go on and on about 😆

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  9. The ‘thou shalt not feed the homeless’ law is trying to be implemented in our country … in certain townships, by laws have already been put in place to make it illegal for the homeless to congregate in certain areas and for other people to assist them in any way. Now thats not a law or by law any of my family are going to obey any time soon 😉

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  11. My finances are precarious. One of my biggest fears is living on the street. Homeless are invisible and preyed upon, given no respect. Why? We don’t know what path has led, or driven them here. You’re so right, kindness is a smile, in pure acknowledgment can make a world of difference

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