i'm not that much different than you. i wake up in the morning and look out the window to see what type of day it is. i wonder what the day will bring, just like you. i have the same thoughts about the coming day, thoughts about friends, thoughts about family and thoughts about where my day will carry me.
i walk out the door much the same way you do. while i'm walking i think about the current day's news, morning events and my plans for the day. i walk the same streets you do every morning. i see the same people you do on those streets. i wonder the same thoughts as i'm making my way down those streets. i think about politics, the joys and tragedies of the world and other various random thoughts. i get hungry just like you. i get cold, especially this winter. it's been brutal and prolonged. i love...just like you. i dislike certain things....just like you. i have the same goals, aspirations and hopes that you do. i think about the perfect job. i think about and worry about money. i think about how i should help other people. i am more like you than you know.
even though i am like you in alot of the basic ways that most people are alike....i am different than you in some ways that you can never really know. i know you are three checks and the grace of god away from being homeless. i know what it's like to be homeless. i know the heavy cost of being homeless. not monetarily but mentally. i know what it's like to see people struggle with being unemployed and homeless and trying to find a way back into a normal life. i know what it's like to see people struggle to find food for their family. i know what it's like to see those same people worry about feeding their families tomorrow. i see the concern and fear in their eyes. i'm different from you in another way too. i will always carry this with me. i won't be able to shed it like a coat or a pair of shoes. it's stamped on my mind, my emotions and my thoughts. i will always know how tedious life and material things can be. i will always know how quickly you can lose those things. i will always remember the look you get when people know you're homeless. i will try to never give that look to anyone.
i know something else too. i'm just like the next person i pass on the street. they could be next.
i'll pass you again in the morning. i'll smile and say good morning again.
see you around town