(Fake interviews. Trying to address the issue creatively.)
Me: I’m here in downtown [somewhere out on the West Coast]. We have a problem with hunger and homelessness here and I’m going to ask a few people what caused it.
Me: I’ve got three people here and I’d like to ask them: What led you to this point in your life?
Man 1: I grew up normal but when I was in my late teens, I started hearing voices. I started not knowing reality from what was in my head. I became confused. I ran away and eventually got involved in a mental health outreach program who set me up with some professional help and meds. I couldn’t cope even with medication, because all I was able to do was sleep. And believe me, SSI isn’t enough to live on.
One question I’d like to ask religious folk: Why would a higher power create an unperfect mind?
Man 2: I served in the Gulf war. I loved, still love, my country. But I have problems. I wake up at night, screaming. I remember the men I was ordered to kill. I remember the look in their eyes. They wanted to live, that look was seared into me, but it was either them or me.
It scared my wife so she took the kids and split. She got everything. I’m tough: I’ll survive it. I just worry about my son and daughter growing up without me.
Things got difficult and I turned to booze for comfort. Got sloppy, got fired.
Now, I’m trying to get my life back on track. The Vet’s Admin say they’re going to help me, but we’ll see.
Lady: My husband and I were married and had two children before he was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. Even with health insurance, we were still 120 thousand in the red. We used every last cent to keep him alive.
(pauses)
He died despite the best efforts of the medical staff and there was a lien put on the house. I had no marketable skills, no way to get a good job, so eventually I lost it.
I’ll be fine. My children and I got a place in a family shelter. They’re going to help me get the job skills I need and they will assist us in getting an apartment. We’ll make it. I know we will.
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