Do not kick the hobos!

Nobody likes a free-loader. No one likes feeling as though they've been had. Lots of people make fun off homeless people and the idea of fighting hobos. I don't believe that all hobos are just unlucky people. A couple of years ago I saw Oprah interview a homeless man who had blown $100K in 6 months in a documentary called Reversal of Fortune. This man was able-bodied with a healthy mind and a lack of respect for authority that made it difficult for him to keep a job. In the documentary, he admits that he prefers being homeless because no one can tell him what to do. This is the kind of hobo most people think of when they want to commit violent acts against homeless people.

Now, imagine this:

A girl and her father are walking downtown at the end of a work day. The girl is wearing a T-shirt promoting peace. The father is wearing a suit. Then the father stops to talk to a smelly, shabby man sitting on the sidewalk.

"I haven't seen you in a few days," the father says.

The homeless man mutters something the girl doesn't quite catch. The father nods in understanding.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry to hear that," says the father. He then fishes in his pocket for some spare dollar bills. He gives them to the homeless man. "Try to take care of yourself."

Then the girl and her father depart.

When they are out of earshot of the homeless man, the daughter asks her father what the homeless man said. Her father tells her that the man is mentally retarded. He was attacked a few nights before and had been in the hospital until that morning.

Those few moments with my father and that homeless man seriously changed my outlook on life. Many people would argue that plenty of retarded people have jobs, but that's not the issue. The problem is that many homeless people are mentally insane and unable to receive treatment or mentally retarded and unable to find the support necessary for them to thrive in our complex society. People tend to think that violence against lazy hobos is warranted because of their behavior. Tragically, many people don't think about the unfortunate mentally challenged hobo that actually was attacked.