Small town compassion
A few days ago, I was downtown at the post office and a homeless man was sitting on the steps. Sadly, that's not an unusual sight, even in our small, relatively affluent city. Corvallis actually has decent resources for the homeless population, considering that such resources are fairly rare outside of more urban areas. We have a full-blown homeless shelter, special programs for homeless families, meal programs, and a free medical and dental clinic for those who can't afford luxuries such as medicine or prenatal care or having a rotting tooth pulled.
But still, some people fall through the cracks, usually because they are unable (or unwilling) to fully help themselves. Most of these programs will try to help, but if someone is mentally ill (without being a threat to self or others) or carrying the burden of addiction, that person will still end up sleeping under the bypass bridge and panhandling.
When I was at the post office, I gave some spare change to the man on the steps, as several others walking past had also done. This town isn't so big that I can look away and ignore someone asking for help without feeling guilty, even if I know he is simply going to walk over to Dari-Mart and buy another 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor to replace the nearly-empty one at his feet. Sometimes I do walk past, sometimes I cough up some change. But when I came out of the post office, I saw a woman walk up to this man with a platter of food. Seriously, it looked as though she had gone to Elmer's or some similar place and bought a real dinner for this man, right down to the mashed potatoes and gravy. She then handed him two bottles of water and encouraged him to drink them to keep dehydration at bay. She then smiled, got back into her car and drove away. It happened in the blink of an eye, but the look on the man's face is still frozen in my brain.
What an awesome thing to do.
But still, some people fall through the cracks, usually because they are unable (or unwilling) to fully help themselves. Most of these programs will try to help, but if someone is mentally ill (without being a threat to self or others) or carrying the burden of addiction, that person will still end up sleeping under the bypass bridge and panhandling.
When I was at the post office, I gave some spare change to the man on the steps, as several others walking past had also done. This town isn't so big that I can look away and ignore someone asking for help without feeling guilty, even if I know he is simply going to walk over to Dari-Mart and buy another 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor to replace the nearly-empty one at his feet. Sometimes I do walk past, sometimes I cough up some change. But when I came out of the post office, I saw a woman walk up to this man with a platter of food. Seriously, it looked as though she had gone to Elmer's or some similar place and bought a real dinner for this man, right down to the mashed potatoes and gravy. She then handed him two bottles of water and encouraged him to drink them to keep dehydration at bay. She then smiled, got back into her car and drove away. It happened in the blink of an eye, but the look on the man's face is still frozen in my brain.
What an awesome thing to do.
posted by Corvallist at
9:46 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the story. When I see kindness like this, it always makes me wish I were a better person. I'm not bad, but I could be better... : )
By
Unknown, at 11:27 PM
yes, great story. kindness, seems like some people are realizing that's what it's all about ,finally :)
By
Anonymous, at 8:09 AM
I've been homeless a couple times in this fair city. Very rough. If you believe mental health treatment as it exists is wonderful, consider www.mindfreedom.org. I have tried in this city to tell my story, of the extreme abuse I endured over decades within the mental health system, before finally leaving it after being beaten by staff on a psyche ward in Portland, then discharged without shoes or coat or transportation into a snow and ice storm of that year, a couple days before Christmas. My neck was ruptured in the beating. All is not fluff and love in the mental health system and I really believe taxpayers and liberals especially, who love to fund such programs, should be aware. I have been ostracized and condemned, right here in Corvallis, for speaking up and out about what I went through and what others have gone through, so much so that I rarely bother anymore, although it plagues me privately. I do believe taxpayers should be aware of what goes on, demand accountibility, before they vote for funding measures, and because taxpayers funded the beating I took and the suffering of others, trapped within a hopeless controlling patronizing silencing system. My poverty now was created decades ago, when I was labeled faulty/diseased and recruited into the mental health system.
By
Strayer, at 6:26 PM
Amen, Strayer. With hope, EVERY person in the world will someday be prancing around saying "Ra!! Ra!! TRV!!
Helping people with mental health issues is one thing, preventing the onset of it is something different entirley.
And then there is that third paradigm that gets very little discussion.
By
Bo, at 10:34 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home