Living in the city and especially near the Tenderloin you are bound to cross paths with the homeless. Who knows if they are on the street because of drug addictions, because of mental illness, they could be there for a million reasons and sad to say it but it could even be by choice. These people become part of the city. They are part of the day to day. You start to see the same people over and over from the guy who stands on top of a box with a silly smirk on his face posed like a statue in front of Victoria Secret and holding a cup for change to the guy that taught his dog to hold a sign. I have begun to assign them titles because I don't know their names but here is a little insight into what I see:
A woman sits on the sidewalk just on the street corner between a big blue mailbox and a newspaper dispenser. She is thin and has long greying hair. The first time I saw her I was thrown off guard because of the spot she choose to sit herself but I didn't glance at her for but a moment. As we pass she yells out "DON'T JUDGE ME" and we keep walking. As we get a few steps away I turn to Shane and say "Wow" because I'm left speechless and he says "What?" "I say you didn't hear that woman?" and he says "What woman?" at which point I realize we were either 1) Involved in a conversation that was really holding his interest or 2) He had already become desensitized to the sounds of the city.
I on the other hand was taken aback, I was saddened by her response because that was the last thing on my mind. Now as I pass her in this same spot almost every day, she sits quietly down on the ground between the big blue mailbox and a newspaper dispenser I wonder what her story is but I don't feel I have the right to ask and all I want to say to her is "I don't judge you".
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