ow do they live like this? I think to myself after seeing the shape of a person in the middle of bags full of bottles and cans. What if I were to tell you there was a pandemic happening well before the outbreak in 2020? You might look past it and not be able to put a name to it. Homelessness. It is the thing that is quiet and loud, insignificant and chronic, invisible but exposed to prying eyes that are upset for the wrong reasons. Last year the pandemic affected all of us in different ways, but we all worried more than normal. All along, there were people in Napa that could not even meet the basic standard of living: the homeless. We, the housed, worried about our jobs, food, gas, family, friends, and our future. The homeless did not get a chance to think about any of that. It is easy to see how beautiful Napa is. What is not easy to see is the poverty in a wealthy place like this one. In my opinion, homelessness is a sign of a failed economy. Whether there are 10 or 10,000 homeless, I think we have failed if anyone looking for a safe place to sleep at night cannot get it. I walk around a lot in Napa, which has made me see a lot of people out and about living their life constantly in motion. Then STOP… I see white and black trash bags haphazardly piled on top of each other, a grotesque pile of junk with a shopping cart holding food, and old shoes with a blanket on top of it. Flies buzz around the mass. I am suddenly out of my element, questioning something like this is here on Lincoln Avenue next to the liquor store. I take a closer look and see a man sitting against the fence, staring at the ground. I ask if he is OK. That’s when he looks up and says his name is Tony.
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