Cleaver Lines

For 2 1/2 years I worked with the homeless. It was one of my favorite populations to work with. These individuals are literally at "rock bottom" and have only one way to go. I found my work very rewarding. I have a million stories about the different people that I worked with, many of them sad and many of them very encouraging.

Kansas City has it's fair share of homeless individuals. Coming home from work at night I often see a few individuals standing at the side street when I get off the highway. I often feel sorry for them, but fear that giving them cash will only enable the reason they have become homeless. For many of them substance abuse is at the core of why they are in the situation they are in. For others there are other reasons: lack of work, lack of adequate work. Each person has their own set of circumstances.

Yesterday as I was walking out of the bookstore there was a homeless man standing outside with a paper cup asking for money. The area that this particular book store is in is one of the most affluent parts of Kansas City. And the homeless always seem to stand outside of Barnes and Noble. Usually when you walk past the individuals standing outside the bookstore they just ask for money. This particular homeless individual had one of the most cleaver lines I had ever heard. As I walked by he shock his cup and said, "Can you spare some change, I am looking to put a down payment on a cheeseburger?" As if it was automatic I said "no" and continued to walk. Then I realized what he had said. I started giggling to myself. That was such a cleaver line. I had no choice but to turn around and drop a few coins in his cup.