I listened to the stories of G.W. and listened to him give life lessons to other people that were homeless. Here I was: receiving a life lesson from a man who was formerly homeless. I listened as he sternly advised a currently homeless person not to look down upon the other homeless people for actions of stealing, especially if they used to steal. He was basically talking to me. He was telling me something important. I could never know the totality of someone's life experience and that I am in no way better than anyone. I listened to him talk of turning around in more ways that one. His life circumstance turned around when he got a break and was able to get a house. Then he talked about turning around and taking a look at the people he had currently been among. He not only wanted to move up; he wanted to extend a hand out.
I was amazed at how articulate Derrell was. His words slid out like the meticulously crafted statements of a spoken word artist: "All I have is clichés because to me life is a joke." I was a victim of my own biases and at that moment I could feel the judgmental knife slide deeper in. In that moment, I was ashamed. I laughed as he compared himself to the Buddha in the weight department.
Adam is a man whose personal history seemed to be pulled directly from a chapter of David Shipler's book. His house burned down, which led to losing his job because he was so badly burned in the fire. His hands no longer work because of the severe nerve damage. He was a construction worker. Therefore, without any other usable skills he couldn't get a job to earn enough money to take him off the streets.
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