the Homeless Guy

http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/

The blog I visited featured Kevin Barbieux, a man in Nashville, Tenn. writing about his experience being homeless.

Barbieux's entries feature stories of struggling to secure a warm meal, visiting various churches through the Room In The Inn (RITI) program, and being able to spend his birthday in the warmth of a friend's house. He also speaks of his life before entering “homelessland,” and the hurts and unfairness he felt.

My first thoughts upon reading his blog were the following: Is he still homeless? How can a homeless man be able to keep up a blog? Barbieux mentions going into Starbucks coffee shops and using Wi-Fi available with some churches through RITI. In an accompanying blog, Barbieux writes that he has been in and out of homelessness since February 1982. However, the post is dated August 11, 2006 and it is somewhat unclear whether he is still homeless or not.

In one particular entry on Thursday, January 11, Barbieux writes of his struggle in securing a RITI ticket for a meal the previous Monday night. He offers five dollars for a ticket and is laughed off by the other homeless. In the end, he is able to find someone to sell him a ticket, but he writes of how difficult it is to find someone who will take five dollars for a ticket.

In other entries, Barbieux writes of how different methods of trying to decrease the number of homeless are failing. In particular, he takes stabs at Nashville's Rescue Mission, a group the homeless call “the house of pain” or the “house of shame,” according to his post dated on Friday, December 29 of 2006. He writes that the mission is not successful because it has done little to help decrease the homeless population. Writing of other services, he mentions that they do little in helping a homeless person leave “homelessland.”

Reading through Barbieux's entries was intriguing, and my first reaction to his blog was shock. I've always had the mindset that homeless people were more uneducated, I'm sorry to say. In my mind, they had to be, or else, why would they be homeless? I would tell myself that if I were ever homeless, I would make more of an effort to work hard and try to get myself out of the mess. But a statement like this is easy to say because I've never experienced such before. Barbieux, however, seems to be a fairly well educated man. He lists art, theology and sociology as some of his interests. He reads articles, often listing ones that have to do with the issue of homelessness. He was definitely the opposite of my idea of a homeless person. Also, seeing homeless people on the street made me feel some pity toward them, but usually not enough to roll down my window and offer some cash or food. Like many others, I would grip my steering wheel and stare straight ahead, avoiding the homeless person's gaze and praying that he wouldn't linger near my window. Reading Barbieux's blog helped me to see from a homeless person's perspective. He writes of his struggles with the weather and finding shelter and meals. In his answers blog, he writes of how hard it was to find a job and how even people at rescue missions seemed cold and indifferent to how emotionally unstable he was.

Wow. Rereading over what I just wrote makes me realize how ignorant I can be. Sadly, I think my ideas of a homeless person are similar to others' ideas. Maybe part of the reason there are still so many homeless among us is because we’re so unaware of their plight. We don't know how to really help them. People think that handing out a few dollar bills or providing a meal is the only way we can help. I wonder how many programs there are that try to help homeless people to find jobs and get out of homelessness and how many of those programs succeed.

Honestly, without blogs like this, I wonder how people could get an idea of what a homeless person’s day is like, or the struggles they go through. Sure, we make assumptions and have “ideas,” but these are merely assumptions. We cannot tell what emotions they are feeling, what struggles they are trying to overcome, or even why they cannot find a job or a home. And none of us would dream of walking up to a homeless person and asking him how his day was or how he's feeling. I don't mean to end this post on a cynical note, but quite frankly and sadly, I don't ever see this problem going away.