The homeless, these unknown

For people living in large cities, the phenomenon of itinerant or homeless is something normal, there is nothing unusual to see one of these people asking for money with a smile and mostly a thank you even if you do not give him anything.


Every time I see one of these people and I mean every time, I always wonder what has been happening in their lives to become what they are today. Of course I am aware that there are a number of those people in the street because they have a mental illness and they are not adequately treated and monitored. However, we all know that most homeless are not in this situation.

I make this reflection this morning because I recently went to downtown Montreal (my hometown) and there was a homeless shelter that was next to a parking machine and with his cap hanging to collect money and welcome me with a nice hello. I returned the favor and then he started to explain the machine seemed to refuse all credit cards, but what a surprise, his manner of speaking, his vocabulary, his speech and his playful attitude to me where simply impressive.

It is clear that the person facing me was intelligent, educated and with great ability to interact with people better than most people I know. Again, I was confront to a person who lived a life situation that I could not explain. I understand that a person in depression can happen at any time in his life dropping everything time to heal, but the homeless are not all people with depression illness!

All this means that when you're facing a homeless, take time to ask yourself some questions like: is this really what the person wants as life? Was it really in his wildest dreams of becoming a homeless?

Just ask him instantly triggers a feeling of compassion towards these people. Compassion is not pity, but a feeling that makes you let go of our negative judgments and we tried, at least for a moment, to walk in their shoes. It is from this moment we realize that these people need to be treated like you and me, that is to say an equal, with respect despite their physical appearance. Never forget the saying "the clothes do not make the man", simply think of tie bandits!

Tell me what you think, tell me how to react when you face these people.