Andy and I arrived at Harrisburg around ten in the night. We walked into the street where most of our “friend” homeless people sleep. As I was walking in, I started to greet to everyone. “Hello, my name is Issac.” As I was introducing myself to a homeless woman, I shook her hand. She told me that her name is Jennifer. When I held her hand I was very shocked; her hand was so hard and cracked that it was hard to believe that I was holding a human hand. As I sat down next to Jennifer, she started talking about very profound philosophy she has been pondered upon. She was keep enlightening me for a long time as if she was telling me that she has been waiting for a companion who would listen to her thoughts. Sitting down on a street in Harrisburg PA, our conversation continued until Jennifer had to go to bed.
While I was talking to Jennifer, Andy was talking to a guy named Greg. Greg was a big black man who had very deep black eyes. Just by looking into his eyes, I could tell that he is a thinker. Andy decided to buy him a piece of pizza and all three of us headed to a pizza restaurant nearby. The restaurant was located on the Second Street of Harrisburg. Apparently Second Street of Harrisburg is the center of clubs in the city. The street was bustling with drunken people in various costumes since it was Halloween day. After walking about five minutes, we arrived at the restaurants. Andy ordered three pieces of pizza and as soon as they were ready, we started eating.
My first impression about Greg was right; if there is such a major, Greg would be a master of life philosophy of the homeless. All his insights about the homeless and himself were quite impressive. Greg shared about his life before he became a homeless and told us he was an arrogant person. He was overly self-confident so that he did not see the need for his college diploma and ended up quitting it. Also due to his arrogance, his marriage did not work out well and finally he got divorced with his wife. Greg was telling Andy and me that all the bad circumstances that he is suffering with are caused by his own bad choices. He also said that many other homeless people are making the same bad decisions but the bigger problem is that they do not realize the fact. Listening to Greg, I was further convinced that the education that leads the homeless people to make wiser decisions is the most effective way to help them. However, with the confirmation behind, I faced a tougher question: how?
After finishing the pizzas, we went back to the street where all the homeless sleep. By the time we got back, all the people were sleeping. Andy and I laid on the street just like other people did. I did not expect the night to be too cold so I brought just a sleeping bag. While attempting to sleep, I covered my whole body with the sleeping bag. The first hour was not too bad; however, the concrete was getting cold very quickly and after few hours, I started shivering. I tried to compel myself to sleep but, it was not working. I felt like I was being tortured. Many times, I was tempted to ask Andy to go back to the campus. I peeked at Andy several times and he seemed asleep very soundly, thus I did not try to bother him. When I kept longing to go back, I suddenly realized that I am blessed person for I have a place to go back to keep me warm while the homeless people do not.
Around 6:30 AM, Andy asked me to walk to the train station to get some coffee. I thought I would die if I do not move, so I agreed to follow him. After we did so, we came back and talked about the sleep experience. Funny thing was that we both barely got any sleep and were thinking exactly the same things. We started laughing and as we were laughing, a black man with a turban approached to us and initiated a conversation.
His name was Mr. Boyd and he called himself a prophet for the homeless. He had many things to say about the government. Unlike Greg, he has discovered many wrong those others (mostly rich and high people) did. He also criticized some mission oriented organizations for they overly emphasize oversee missions while they intentionally close their eyes when they look near them. He cried: “Haiti is not far away but here.” He told us to be awake and see the reality and admonished us that we can be homeless as well.
From what I experienced that night, I felt like I got answers to many questions I had about the homeless people. However, after talking to Greg and Mr. Boyd, I couldn’t stop asking myself who is right and how should we help the homeless?
Issac Won
No comments:
Post a Comment