I saw this bum, and rolled down the cab window to politely ask if I could take his picture. God knows why I was so respectful of his privacy considering he probably takes craps on the park lawn. Anyway, he walked over, and I took the shot. I didn’t have any cash to give him, so I urged my mom, who literally had a wad of cash on her lap, ready to pay the cab driver. She looked surprised, and perhaps even scared and adamantly shook her head “no.”
The light turned green, the cab jolted forward, I rolled up my window, and the bum returned to his spot. “You should have given him some money,” our cab driver, who hadn’t said a word yet, said.
This makes me wonder about how entrepreneurial bums are. I think they use their signs to appeal to different audiences depending on time and location. I’ve seen signs that say, “God bless you,” which I’m sure are created for the people in the Christian community who don’t question their motives. I’ve seen a bum with a crippled dog for all the animal lovers, and this bum was on the street crammed with liquor stores on a Saturday night.
Some people see hobos and think they’re a detriment to society. They are people with real stories and pasts just like us. Realistically, we’re all just a few missed mortgage payments or an uncontrollable addiction away from it ourselves.
holly pelesky 
Leave a Reply