Being downtown and around the Columbia College campus, we as college students are constantly approached by homeless people on the streets and those who might be looking for spare change or food. In this economy, we might think it’s every man or woman for himself or herself, and nobody really has it easy. Times are hard and life is rough. It seems like nobody has anything to spare even though we are supposedly coming out of a recent recession. You’d think the few things we have left to give (if money or food isn’t reasonable) would be kindness and generosity. That’s sadly not the case.
I was sitting on one of the Red Line trains the other day on my way back to my apartment after classes were done for night, and something caught my eye. It wasn’t the typical homeless person asking for money so he or she could afford a ride somewhere or change for something to eat. An African-American man, who looked like he was in his 40s with grayish-white hair and tattered and stain-ridden clothing, walked onto the train asked for something different.
As he walked onto the platform, he looked out of breath and immediately grabbed hold of one of the railings so he wouldn’t fall over or bump into anybody. I could smell his body oder from a good distance away, and I could tell everybody around him cringed a little bit and scrunched up their faces at at the awful stench floating throughout the train cart. He looked dehydrated and worn out.
He didn’t ask for any money. He instead if anyone could spare any water or food, not money for food. I admit I felt bad for him, and my heart went out to him. I didn’t have any bottled water with me or in my messenger bag, but I know if I had any I most likely would have given it to him. This middle-aged man looked like he would have needed it more than me.
What I really don’t understand is why people around him were ignoring him like he wasn’t even on the train. No matter how many times he repeated his request for spare food and water, it was as if he were invisible. I even noticed people sitting around me with water bottles in clear sight.
This really bothered me because so many things ran through my mind as this was going on. What if he were Caucasian? What if he didn’t appear to be homeless? What if he were an older woman? What if he were just an average person in dire need of medical help because of an illness that suddenly occurred? Would he still have been ignored?
Are people that oblivious to their surroundings that they choose to not pay attention to things that happen on the el trains? I’d like to think if I were ever in a similar situation I wouldn’t be ignored, and people would react to what was going around them. The next time I have a bottled water I’m not drinking and I come into contact with another person like this, I’m definitely going to give it to him.