tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264466425852261124.post1659906686783208453..comments2023-08-13T03:05:04.138-07:00Comments on 43rdYear: Continued: Eyes without a faceMrs L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02903193675545857382noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264466425852261124.post-67656398218833547872010-01-08T18:33:02.331-08:002010-01-08T18:33:02.331-08:00What a load of bullshit.What a load of bullshit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264466425852261124.post-6542165689052040122009-11-18T06:27:26.705-08:002009-11-18T06:27:26.705-08:00That was very touching.That was very touching.Zurinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10209420293425025235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264466425852261124.post-48206511576046502642009-11-15T16:59:48.501-08:002009-11-15T16:59:48.501-08:00I grew up in Los Angeles and went to school in San...I grew up in Los Angeles and went to school in Santa Monica, a place where a lot of homeless people live because the city gives them the right to sleep publicly. I used to be so scared of them. I was warned never to go near them. They were lepers--drunks, drug addicts. Then I moved to London. I was NOT in my car, like you described we Los Angelino's are. I was surrounded by the homeless daily. And these people I faced. I would speak to them and hear their stories and they would become human. They were NOT what I had been wrongly told they were. These were people with mental illness, disabilities, tragedies---some had been hard working folks who fell on hard times. In London there is a magazine for the homeless called The Big Issue. They pay for the magazine up front and if you buy it, they get half of the profits. These people stand in the freezing English weather and peddle the paper trying to make an honest living when no one would hire their shabby selves. They also have pride that they are not just sitting with a sign but are earning a day's wage. Now that I have come back to L.A. I view the homeless very differently. I look them in the eye and know that they are people with lives and stories. Veterans who served our country and have been abandoned by the same land they fought for. I'm not saying all homeless people are righteous. Many ARE addicts and criminals. But at least give them notice. Give them a chance. Don't always assume they are going to run out with your dollar and score. Sometimes all they want is to bum a cigarette, I always offer them two. Your man without a face is very painful because he has to literally face the world everyday, scarred, to try and survive. And he does so with dignity. He cannot get a job looking the way he is, most likely, and if we are willing to pay 4 dollars for a latte, what's 2 bucks for a man without a face? These people yearn to talk. Yearn for human company because so many back away from them. Give them a smile, a nod. It doesn't always have to be monetary. Just make them feel human and give them back their face. xoxoxoxoxox--One of 365one of 365http://www.oneof365.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264466425852261124.post-62726712267968906772009-11-15T14:15:18.337-08:002009-11-15T14:15:18.337-08:00Very poignant. Thank you so much for sharing your ...Very poignant. Thank you so much for sharing your thought on this delicate subject.Nenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13279158503678900846noreply@blogger.com