NORMALS

Sunday’s after the park I go down to the underpass. There I do the same as I do in the park, give a warm meal but mostly hang out and talk. This past Sunday we had finished loading the truck backup and a group that we had been visiting with left and was walking down the street. My son and I were still hanging out when a lady with the group came running back yelling for help. One of the guys with them had roughed her up and threw her in the bushes. She was afraid that the guy who roughed her up was going to do something to one of the other guys and asked if we would help (they asked not to have the cops involved). So, my son, one other guy and myself jumped in the truck and went to help. To make a long story short, we got everyone back to the underpass without anyone else getting hurt. As we all stood there talking, the lady came up and gave me a hug and said “Thank you, you’re the only normal that has ever cared enough to help.”

I didn’t think much of the phrase she used “normals” until I was back home and it still has bothered me today. I had heard my friend Ken, in Portland, use this term before. He said it was a term that people on the streets used to refer to those who don’t live outside, have a job, the house, the family, etc.

I want to know how having all those things mentioned above makes you normal? I want to know why society says that by having all these things that you are in someway superior to those who have not and those who do not have are looked upon as if they are less than human. I want to know why when a homeless woman is assaulted on a busy street corner, no one stops to help and people look the other direction. If it were someone in a three-piece suite, many would have jumped into help.

So, why am I bothered? It comes down to the fact that I am hurt and ashamed. I am ashamed of those who would look down on and pass these wonderful people bye as if they did not exist. I am ashamed of my fellow human beings that cannot lend a helping hand to someone in need. I am hurt because these wonderful people are my friends and in some ways my family. My friends without homes love with a passion that we could learn from, they give more generously than I have ever seen and they have your back no matter what the cost. If I am sounding a little PO’d, I am sorry. When I hear statements like the one she made, then I get a little upset. Upset because I see the hurt in their eyes and the pain in their heart when they are looked upon as less than. Then I have to ask, is it normal to not care and turn a blind eye, if it is then I don’t want to be considered as normal. I want to be abnormal. I want to throw my arms around them and hug them. I want to tell them I love them. I want to be a shoulder when they are hurting and when they need someone to have their back, I want to be there for them. I want to sit along the underpass as traffic drives by say, “hey friend, how’s your day going?”

I do understand that not all people (normals) treat those without homes in this way and in no way am I implying that all do. But I am saying that those who think that in someway they are better because they have, remember we are all children of God and he doesn’t play favorites. He doesn’t care how many toys you have in your toy box. He can take them away just as fast and you could find yourself referring to others as the "normals". All I ask is for you to see them for the loving person they were created to be and the beauty they hold inside. See them how God sees them and love them with the Father’s heart. Much love to all of you!