A news article from KSL made the rounds a few weeks ago on the Facebooks, so pretty much the entire state of Utah saw their expose on the "business of begging." The article revealed that many panhandlers use the money they get from begging to support drug habits, rather than purchase food or shelter for the night, as most people probably suspect they would. The entire tone of the article seemed to imply that these panhandlers are criminally deceitful and do not deserve pity or charity.
And the whole thing pissed me right the &$#^ off.
I'm not a terribly compassionate person. Given a bit of disposable income, I'm far more likely to purchase another seaon of Ducktales than provide a meal for a hungry family. Heck, I'm still holding a grudge against some lady who cut me off in traffic three months ago. So this isn't really a call to Christian charity or anything - or, if it is, I acknowledge it's a fairly hypocritical one.
See, the article also points out that many of the people we see around Salt Lake City begging for change are suffering from some pretty serious mental illnesses. They're sick people, but since they use the money they get from appealing to the sympathy of the general population to feed their illnesses, they get exposed to all sorts of scorn. And, guys, that's a big freakin' deal.
Good mental health care is very difficult to find in the Salt Lake area - heck, in just about the entire state. Even if you do find it, psychiatric services can be quite expensive. Insurance plans are now required to provide mental health coverage (or will be as of 2014), but, even so, most plans used by lower-income households won't pay for finer care. A lot of people are forced to attend programs that are understaffed and overcrowded - assuming they have the resources and capacity to manage their care themselves.
The truth is, I suspect that many of the people who beg for change are really in need - just not the need that they're advertising in Sharpie on their cardboard signs. Obviously, the ills of the homeless and the beggars won't be soothed by receiving spare change from the holiday shoppers - after all, I doubt that the $0.78 I drop in the panhandler's cup after I buy my daily bagel will be used to cover the cost of a Lithium prescription copay. Frankly, I'm not sure what the best use of that $0.78 is. But I feel that it's criminal of us to shut off our sympathy because someone lied about their problem. They've still got other problems, maybe even more serious ones. We can be better people than that.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to finish up my Batman fanfiction where the Caped Crusader punches out lousy drivers.
2 comments:
Totally agree!
I can even say I have been there.
There is so much more to homelessness than people who don't want to work, or even than scammers.
Dear Stephen,
I think we should be friends. Why you may ask? Well let's see here. First, you used Captain Freaking Hammer in a blog post and at the same time proved that the status is not quo. That automatically wins you points. Next, I agree with you on 98.724% of this post. It's not 100% because then I would seem like a kiss up. And then there's the fact that you may or may not be my spirit animal. Or possibly my life mascot. I'll think on that and let you know. And lastly, (for today at least) I'm pretty freaking awesome and everyone needs a little me in their life.
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