back-words... just a thought or two...

*** this excerpt accompanied a photo and between the two, i had a fairly strong reaction. btw, the city is called shinjuku. here is the image link: http://www.androniki.com/images/homeless/01-Sinjuku.jpg

November 24, 2008
just a thought or two...
"Homeless in Tokyo - Tokyo
A homeless man in front of the lockers outside Keio department store. Sinjuku is a very busy area with a lot of department stores and a lot of people passing from there every day. While the shops are still open homeless people just wonder around waiting till they close so that they can lay their paper mattresses outside them and sleep. There is usually no interaction between the homeless and people passing by as homeless people don't usually beg and passers by try to ignore their presence. Tokyo, © Androniki Christodoulou"

The way homeless people are treat across the world is much the same. During the Great Depression many people were homeless due to no fault of their own. Sometimes that is still the case. Sometimes I wonder how it would be if ever I were to become homeless. That's why I try to help when I can- even when I haven't had an income. My mother and my great uncle also do what the can, each in their own way (she gives food and he is a minister at a homeless shelter). I know charity begins at home first, but sometimes I feel like my poverty may be a king's wealth to another, so I try to help when it doesn't absolutely break me because I, too, am usually hurting for money. I would be one of those people, silently hurting, never asking for help. To be in such a position is embarrassing enough as it is without having to as for help as well...