Thought of the Day

“Homeless”
Don’t label me

I used to think that all homeless people lived on the streets.
That they didn’t work, maybe because they were alcoholics or druggies or on the run.
I pictured grimy faces and torn clothing, shopping carts and empty bottles and empty pockets and wet, filthy boxes.
And then I talked to some.
Turns out they were actually victims of a ruthless economy or thriving upper-class system in which the wealthy gain while the poor are condemned.
Turns out addiction or abuse had gotten the better of them., though they fought long and hard.
Turns out their voices were enough to make me stop, and listen.
And to realize that maybe…they were just people. People whose lives had taken a turn for the worse – or the better. If you can judge that sort of thing.
Maybe, despite being invisible, they had a story like everyone else.
Maybe I needed to rethink my definition of “home”.