Sunday, February 25, 2007 - How did you get here?

During the course of my week I invariably see numerous homeless people that litter the streets.  When I first came to the US I had never seen so many homeless people especially in the city of Santa Monica where I live. During my 20 years here in the US my actions towards them have varied. I used to give them money and food more often than I do now.  I guess I could say that I have become less sympatheic towards them in many ways.

Since having my sons my thoughts have changed somewhat. I was present at the birth of my first son and it was quite an emotional experience. When he finally emerged from his Mom's womb it struck me how perfect he was, a clean fresh new life, no physical or mental scars. Lately when I see a homeless person I think back to the birth of my sons. What happened to you? Someone must have cared for you, fed you, loved you, cleaned your diaper. How exactly did you go from that little piece of perfection to the fetid, dirty, troubled piece of human decay that sits there in your own filth. What damaged you so much, what abuse, illness and/or neglect led you here to the pavement, unloved and destroyed?!?!

 Emotional empathy have now replaced the ambivalence I previosly felt after my initial outpouring of generosity.