Dumpster diving

On the street that I work, Atlantic Avenue, there are at least four homeless women. A couple of them will come into the store on a regular basis for a free coffee and a sample of our demo. I've only spoken with one of them, she was obviously not all there mentally, but she was very, very grateful for the help I provided her. I have not seen her in a few months, and my hope is that she has found help elsewhere.

Another lady can always be found somewhere on the street reading. She never comes into the store, but I have passed her a number of times on my way to Subway while she reads outside on the sidewalk. She has never asked me for anything, and I don't recall her ever coming into our store. I want to try to get her a job at the library down the street, but I think that may be overstepping my bounds.

This morning when I went outside to unload our morning deliveries, there was a new homeless lady waiting outside in the employee parking lot. She approached me and asked if I was the manager. She wanted to know if I would allow her to dig through our dumpster for food. I apologized and told her that I couldn't allow her to do that. (Especially after we accidentally threw trash on a dumpster diver that was hiding from us a few weeks ago.)

She looked absolutely famished and appeared as if she hadn't bathed in months. She went back to sitting by the employees cars. I felt sick to my stomach, here we have all this food inside, and she sits outside the walls hungry. I went inside and bought her two fresh bananas, I told her it wasn't much, but she was so thankful. Two 19 cent bananas and I made her morning.

In Santa Monica, the unofficial home of the homeless, it is impossible to go to the Third Street Promenade without passing them. Most people turn a blind eye, some will give change, and others will organize lunches.

I've always struggled with what to do with homeless people. I won't give them money, if I have leftovers from lunch, I may occasionally give those away. But what I really want are long-term solutions for these people. The problem is most don't want help but money, others are content, hungry, but content, and others need medical help that I can't offer. It's a frustrating situation that gets politicized all the time, but the politicians seem to do little about.

- posting of April 8, 2005 from the blog of a 1998 Pelican Rapids High School alum who now lives and works in Los Angeles