Now here's a good post title, because it's gotta be true no matter what you reply to me.
It remains true essentially because there is no one description that could fit all the people I've met and seen at the shelter here in Maringá, Brasil.
There is no specific age, gender, or economic origin. Believe me, it's crazy. I even met a former biochemistry engineer who had his own lab and everything but got tired of his wife spending huge amounts on cocaine and other drugs so he left everything and hit the streets.
I felt inspired to write this because today while we lined up for the shower a few people passed on their cars looking at the group with utmost despise. Then a couple of women got off to donate some clothes but passed quickly towards the guard without as little as a glance towards us.
Despite the heterogeneous origin of the people there and their different approaches to life, one thing they share is that most of them are pretty harmless. There's always one or two at night that can get rowdy with some drinks on them but they are not celebrated by anyone. Anyway, the nasty looks were in broad daylight and everyone was being super peaceful.
There's people like me who are traveling, people who had problems in their previous life and are looking to start over, people who are working and saving up by not paying rent, etc. And yes, there's also people who just want everything free and don't want to have to make any effort, but even in this short time I've seen some of them make sacrifices to start changing.
But let's assume for a moment that they're all a band of bums that don't want to contribute to society. Is that still a good reason to make them feel even more rejected? Do people think that will encourage them to change?
People who don't have motivation towards the life society proposes is that way because they were raised on rejection, on the idea that they were not worthy of love. I know this because it happened to me as well. Not complaining though, I'm over that and now I just enjoy the freedom of going where I please, and where God allows me to go. I just wonder if there's really no better way to treat people?
Of course, there's also a lot of loving people who go and hand out food and drinks, going even at night. Oh wait, I just remembered something that happened today, very bizarre. In the morning a couple of guys were going to a place where they were going to receive some money. They told me to go with so I tagged along.
We arrived at a federal office and I thought that we would wait for the office to open and receive the benefit. But what happened blew my mind: a small lady, a bit crooked, with a face pale as snow and a lot of makeup on her lips and brows started walking towards us with her purse open in her hands. She didn't say a word and handed each of us a 5 BRL bill. Strange, very strange.
Thanks for bringing this up, as I really enjoy discussing this topic. On my travels I have met quite a few people who claimed, in one way or another, that they were not precisely homeless, they just preferred not to go home. Hahaha! And sure, why not? So in a sense, I could relate to them much better, since, after all, the same thing applied to me at that moment.
As far as receiving judgement, one thing that I'm still quite surprised about: When hitching (or even just hiking along a highway), it didn't matter that how clean shaven I was or that I was wearing a nice and new jacket. I was generally looked down on as some sort of bum. However, riding my bicycle, it didn't matter how scruffy and dirty I happened to be, complete with torn clothes, caked in dust and sweat, the same judgemental folks treated me like a high-performance athlete. Funny and ironic.
Every time this topic of homelessness, or let's call it nomadism, comes up, I like to mention that this is one thing lacking in our society: A place for us to live on the move, for however long we wish. By this I mean physical infrastructure on one end, that is frequent centers where water is provided, for drinking, showering, and washing your stuff, as well as a place to put yourself for night with the most basic necessities of safety from the elements. Two examples I like to use as inspiration (though not necessarily copying it 1:1) are mosques, where they want the believer to enter, but require them to be clean when doing so, so the water facilities are provided. The other are hiker-biker sites at many parks in the US. They charge $5 per site, which are big enough to accommodate a number of travelers who want to share them. Though even here I think this could be entirely free, and not only in forests but all throughout cities and towns. But that leads right into the other aspect of creating space for nomads in our cultural mindset. Once this happens, we can discuss all the potential benefits people on the move could bring to a town of otherwise sedentary inhabitants.
Like language exchange, food / local dishes and fresh perspective.
Yes, all of that. Plus possible skills, knowledge, experience, and possible alternative solutions to prevailing problems. Then there are all the social aspects of having someone from far away around. And we're just scratching the surface here...
What a great reply, I completely agree. If you want clean visitors, then they need a place to clean up! It's very simple.
What you told about how they look at you on a bike is hilarious 😂 I suppose that to most people in this modern world just riding a bike is a monumental display of fitness
Well, thanks to you for offering such a great opportunity to reply!
As for the mosque, generally I am not a fan of religions, but the mere fact that they offer water is enough to make me a believer! Though I have never traveled in Muslim countries , so all this remains hypothetical at this point.
As for bicycling, riding it all day every day does require a decent level of fitness (which you will also develop on the road, by the way), however, the same thing is true about walking all day every day. I enjoy both quite a lot, but for some reason walking doesn't generate the same respect in this modern world as riding a bike. Now I'm curious about what the case would be for traveling by canoe or on horseback...
I can sympathize to an extent - in the right circumstances. I’ve sadly seen quite a few people pretend to be homeless that don’t want to work and make more money pan handling than they do working. I guess that’s a bit entrepreneurial of them, if I will be honest haha.
We live in a weird time - this money thing. It’s so abundant and easily manageable but they force people to suffer and into poverty for the fun of it, it feels like. Pretty nasty stuff but most of us are just trying to survive, trying to make an impact on the world on some way or another.
Yeah it's crazy how much more effective it is to just ask for money and food than to work for it. I walked around with a guy who was really persistent and it took him half an hour to round up to pay for a lunch and also got some extra stuff to eat from an expensive store.
It's all about knowing how to manage all the no's before the yes hahah
Interesting post. So what exactly are you doing there Travelling, volunteering?
Traveling, I'm up for volunteering but had a bad experience on my first try so now I'm just busking with my guitar. Have another volunteer exchange coming up soon though
"It's not a sign of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
One thing I find very illustrative is that in most cities I go through there are few fruit/vegetable stores and tons of drug stores
ouch
How did it feel to receive money from crooked snow white?
Hahah it was a surreal experience
I asked a guy "porquê ela faze isso?"
He replied: "porquê ela gosta"
:^)