My Conversation with A Homeless

Blog by: Yasmine Toure

It’s important to talk about what we learn in class or thanks to Internet; however, there is nothing more realistic than telling your own experience. As somebody who likes traveling and walking, I have already met numerous homeless. I once had the opportunity to discuss with one.

This man seemed to be around fifty years old. Even though I met him in the United States, I didn’t ask him his age because it is disrespectful in my culture. We talked for almost an hour. He told me how he became homeless and I realized that this could happen to anyone. He told me that he became homeless because he lost his job and could not find another one. He was not able to pay any of his bills. At this time, all the people that he considered as relatives did not help him and he had to leave his house and stay in the streets.

He started begging for money, but the money he received in the streets wasn’t enough to make sure that he could eat at least two times every day. When I met him, he was looking for a homeless shelter but the process to join one was taking much more time than expected. This man seemed desperate and almost near depression. He confessed that he thought about robbing a bank or people in the streets, but he never did it because it is against his values. He was also very smart, he talked to me about the philosophy books that he read because I told him that my favorite subject in high school was philosophy.

I had never talked to a homeless before because of all the stereotypes about them, but this day, I realized that they have the purest hearts that we could meet on Earth.