It seems as though a few people with government jobs will determine the possible fate of nearly two million workers connected to the U.S. Auto industry. As many face an uncertain future, the recent events raised the prospects of the total collapse of the industry, as we know it. This is only one of several crises threatening to increase the total homeless population in America to staggering proportions and we are not ready. Proof of this country being ill prepared to help the displaced still to this day exist in New Orleans where a city decimated by the winds and water of Katrina sits waiting for America to show up and help. The storm left hundreds of thousands stranded, hopeless, and even homeless. Now we face a situation that could put millions of families in the streets without social service in the event of a disastrous end.
Drastic matters require drastic measures. Now is the time for America to atone for ignoring millions who sleep on our city’s streets and begin to ask questions that could lead to housing solutions for unemployed, under-employed, mentally ill, traumatized, and chronically homeless human beings. Its also time to ask an incredible demographic of people who exist on nothing and under unbelievable conditions for some tips on staying alive under tough (and I really mean non-existent) economic circumstances. How often have we stopped at traffic lights and gently slid our hands onto the door locks for fear of auto invasion by the destitute beggar? How often have we driven by a homeless person in the heat of the day or in the cold of the night and turn our heads as if not seeing them will ease our conscience or abdicate our responsibility. Surely we can make the insensitive and say, “They should just get a job” but what happens if there is no job to get. Unfortunately America is now getting ready to discover just how absurd that notion is in the wake of rampant joblessness. The reality is jobs have always been in short supply for people who have not been privy to the “Outliers” as Malcolm Gladwell puts it in his latest book in which he declares success is never something that happens alone and that “People don’t rise from nothing.”
Gladwell goes on to say,
“We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot. It makes a difference where and when they grew up… Biologist often talk about the ecology of an organism: the tallest oak in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn; it is the tallest also because no other tree blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was deep and rich, no rabbit chewed through its bark as a sapling, and no lumberjack cut it down before it matured.”
The homeless are all products of many variables in the forest of life and we don’t know which forest they survived, we don’t know who the parent acorns were, we don’t know how difficult it was to avoid being chewed by the rabbits or how challenging it was to avoid the multitude of lumberjacks (circumstances) who’s goal was to cut them down before they matured. We do know they have survived and in the coming days can become our teachers, instructing us on surviving. Here are a few things I have learned from homeless women, children, and men over the last 17 years in Downtown Houston:
- Look out for the people around you; they are your best security and support.
- Pack light anything extra is dead weight.
- Make eye contact with those who can help you and don’t hesitate to ask for their help.
- Let people think what they will and don’t let it change how you feel.
- Find a few places to hang out that respect your personhood.
- Practice contentment every minute of every day until your circumstances change.
- Keep your shoes on.
My favorite axiom is “keep your shoes on” because there is always someone wanting to walk in your shoes, so they think, even if they are the wrong size and already worn out. As people become more economically challenged in the coming days, now may also be a good time to roll down your window the next time you roll up to a traffic light where a homeless person is begging and remember that except for the acorn, the rabbit, and the lumberjack it could have been you.
What do you think about the fate of the American worker?
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