An introduction to US Culture

I live in Central Florida.
I took this picture on the way to work this morning.



It shows a homeless man, he sits here every day and every night
on a makeshift bench, his worldly possessions crammed inside
a shopping cart nearby. He appears to have become a part of the scenery now, not so much a human being anymore, but largely merged into the scenery with the street signs and the trees by the sidewalk.

He never seems to move, at least I never see him walk away from this spot. I see him on the way to work, and he is still there in the same
spot on the way back from work. This has been his home for almost a month that I know of.

No one cares. He is not the problem. We have greater priorites: to fight the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan so that our armies of homeless may continue to exist as objects on the side of the road.

and pic link doesn't work

sorry, edited post so the link should work, thanks for note.

...what do you think about the picture you shot???

sorry, my geocities space is being onry and stingy with megabytes today, so try this alternate:



I got more MBytes to play with there.

anyway, I don't know what to think of him, he may be on the point of
dying. I suppose I could have stopped and talked to him, but what do you do from there? The problem of homelessness is much bigger than one person trying to solve it.

That's essentially what my mother said when I showed the
picture to her. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck, I guess.

That is what I used to do, when I didn't have a roomate. There were a few men who were too scary for me to even think of being alone with, but I have learned to ignore the paranoia of our modern conventional wisdom.

I once knew a man who stood in the exact same spot for at least ten hours a day. I eventually asked him why and it was because that was the last spot he saw his son then years earlier.

from the clothing he is wearing and the flag, you should approach him and ask him if he is a vet. I know the American Legion isn't thought of really highly at times on DU, but if he's a veteran you should contact them and they will help this guy get back on his feet.