On New Year's Day, during my morning walk in Prospect Park, I wondered if I should wish the occupant of the Endale Arch a happy new year. He’s the homeless man from the West Indies about whom I’ve written before and who sleeps and spends much of his time in the arch, a pedestrian underpass in Prospect Park near the Grand Army Plaza entrance. How could 2012 be a happy year for this man, I asked myself. How could he be happy as long as he remains homeless? Would he consider a new year’s greeting to be a mockery of his situation?
In spite of my misgivings, when I saw him standing inside the arch, I first said “Good morning,” and then “Happy New Year.” His face became radiant. “Thank you, sir,” he said, smiling broadly, and then, “ Thank you, sir.” I had never seen him smile before. The evident pleasure he took in my simple greeting touched me.
My guess is that most people pass this man without seeing him or if they do see him they avert their eyes. Probably for most people he is a non-person. If that’s so, then he must value a greeting that acknowledges him as an individual, a fellow human being.
The nights are getting colder now. Will he join the 41,000 other New Yorkers who sleep in shelters? Shelters are said to be dangerous and unpleasant, and if I were in his situation, I'd probably avoid them too. But hypothermia is a real danger for those who sleep outdoors when the temperature is very low. I worry about him and then berate myself for worrying, an activity of no use to him or to anyone else.
I wish I could help him, but it occurs to me that he might not want to be helped. He may prefer the solitary life he is living, resenting well-meaning efforts to change his way of life. Or is this a rationalization to make me feel less bad for being able to do nothing more for him than to wish him a good morning every day and a happy new year once a year?
2010-2012 Anchises-an Old Man's Journal All Rights Reserved
I agree with your imbarass coming accross beggers (no homeless around my place). If I greet them, I wander if I should give them money too. If I not greet them I feel bad. If you just cross the sight of a black seller of booklets he will stick on you along all the road. I do not look at them and I feel so bad in doing that. What is the right measure in being decently human towards the poor others? Wally
ReplyDeleteI wonder if -- now that the weather has become much colder -- this homeless man has sought shelter, or whether he is still out there at night?
ReplyDeleteP.
I haven't seen him recently, but it's often been very cold. Still, a few days ago, when the temperature was in the fifties, he was not there either. Let's hope he's found shelter.
ReplyDelete