JADED.......................

A lesson in living occurred last night on the way to an AAU girls’ basketball game with two 12 yr olds in tow. We were headed to the far side of Cincinnati for what proved to be an intensely competitive and aggressive basketball game. I pulled onto the highway exit from I-275 and standing there at the light, by the side of the road, stood a girl with a home-made cardboard sign. In big black letters, impossible to miss, were the words: “HOMELESS. NEED MONEY FOR FOOD. PLEASE HELP!!!” She was a petite, red-head with trendy clips in her hair and neatly dressed; her backpack and another satchel lying in the dirt by her feet. So strange to be out in the northern most suburbs (Colerain Township) and to see a girl somewhere between 18 and 25, ok, maybe I should identify her as a young woman, appealing to motorists for help. I was in the farthest lane from where she stood, but I could see that the cars in the other two lanes completely ignored her plight.

The 12 year old girls in my car took a long look at her and had absolutely no sympathy for her situation, which shocked me. Their reasoning: the labels on her clothing and back pack! They recognized the North Face Label on her jacket and pack and that her boots had an expensive designer label. The girls reasoned that if she was that down and out on her luck, she would have sold her possessions. The fact that she looked like any other college student: neat, well-scrubbed, etc., also seemed to factor into their belief systems: she just didn’t look needy to them.

Their previous experience of homelessness consisted of seeing raggedy people on downtown street corners looking vastly different than the young woman standing before them.

The sad reality that is beyond comprehension for kids such as these 12 year old girls is that as a nation we are facing the worst economic crisis that most of us have ever seen. People at all economic levels are losing their jobs, their homes, their futures, their……..hope. The new image of homelessness is far removed from the bedraggled, weary, dirt-smeared older person of yesteryear huddled on a downtown street corner under a pile of ragged blankets. Today’s homeless person could be you or me.

On the one hand, I am almost embarrassed at the lack of empathy that the girls had for this homeless young woman, but on the other hand it shows that they are still living a life of innocence, free from the harsh realities that swirl around them. I think given both sides of the knowledge coin, I prefer to have them be young, care-free and naïve a little longer. The harsh realities of life will set in soon enough.

I pray that the young woman standing on the Colerain Avenue Exit from I-275 at 5:30 p.m. last night was able to find refuge at a local shelter and that her life will turn around soon. My hope is that the nightmare that is homelessness finds a swift solution for all who find themselves caught in its downturn.

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009