Our Neediest Neighbors By Timothy Sheridan
I H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 20
t doesn’t matter where you live. You’ve seen them, lying on park benches, standing on the roadside, sitting on street corners, easily identified by their disheveled hair, baggy clothes, and bad teeth: the homeless. Perhaps you’ve occasionally offered the $5.00 you had in your wallet, taken someone out for a meal or at the very least directed someone to the local homeless shelter. Maybe you’ve also been one of those people who have walked in the opposite direction, locked your car door or rolled up your window at the mere sight of someone holding a sign reading, “God bless you,” as if those words scribbled in Sharpie on the grubby, bent piece of cardboard were a curse rather than a benediction. I’ve personally seen someone reach for a concealed weapon at the mere approach of a homeless man.
