You Should Care About That Homeless Man Sleeping on the Side of the Road...Because He is Like You

Hello there everyone and happy first official weekend of Autumn!
There's so many fall festivities to attend to before the weather begins freezing us all in as it does every winter here in Colorado (I want to put on my fake Ugg boots and knock-off North Face jacket just thinking about it!) Speaking of events however, last weekend I found myself in Downtown Denver for Oktoberfest which has been going on for about a week there now. Of course, I'm talking Downtown Denver as in near Coors Field where it seems impossible to walk without seeing at least one or two homeless folks watching you stroll past pretending not to notice them.

I bring up this seemingly random observation because I know it's something we've all experiences, if not in Downtown Denver, maybe in another place. Seattle stands out in my mind as a place I remember seeing homeless people with cardboard signs and sad stories the most. I remember I was about 10 or 11 at the time and the fact there were people without a home and I was actually walking past them, being told to ignore them like everyone else walking by made me feel guilty. But above anything else, it was uncomfortable.

We have all heard stories about homeless people, am I right? They're lazy beggars, drunkards, drug addicts, and con artists.They're only going to use that $5 you were just stupid enough to give them to go buy another pack of cigarettes, or put it towards their next meth purchase.
But are they? And why do we just assume this about a man on the street we've never met? Why do we judge so harshly and separate ourselves from him? Why is that lady living under the bridge any different from me? How do we know she has never been in the exact job, earning the same salary, living in the same cozy 2-bedroom home that I live in?

A few weeks go on Facebook I came across a video produced by Rethink Homelessness, and organization raising awareness of homeless people in Florida and produces content to try and change the way this marginalized group is though about in society (For more info check out http://rethinkhomelessness.org/).

A marginalized group consists of people that are denied access to most, if not all, participation and representation in society. They have no say in how they are represented because they aren't allowed to speak for themselves. When you think about it, homeless people are undeniably marginalized. Don't think so? Have you ever heard someone say "homeless people just need to get a job." Well, most people are deprived of  the means to even attain an interview for a job, much less the job itself. When you go to a job interview, you want to come across as hygienic, professional, and competent. You do this by taking a shower, brushing your teeth, ironing your dress pants or skirt, and printing off a nice, crisply typed up resume from your computer. All of these things you do to prepare for an interview, well it would be a miracle for a homeless person to even gain access to a dependable shower. They are materially deprived because they lack the resources (and by resources I mean money, money, and oh yeah, money) that most of us do. Even if we don't consider ourselves "rich", we have access to health care, dependable food resources, a roof over our heads to keep out that cold weather I referred to earlier.

Therefore, it's unfair of us to ignore our privilege and tell those without the privilege's we have that they need to better themselves without the means to do so. The vast majority of  people are oppressed and instead of us looking at them as an uncomfortable thing to walk by on a morning commute, let's recognize that they may not be all that different from you and me.