Saturday November 17 - The Paradox, Living In Austin

Saturday November 17 - The Paradox, Living In Austin


Today was a mixed blessing and loss. It started out at a bus stop. In our hurry to get on the bus, half awake, and not quite in our right mind, we boarded and went about a mile. I noticed Mary holding her day pass and told her to put it away safe. A few moments later she looked at me, in shock, "I left my purse back at the bus stop."

"Well", I said, "We'll have to go back and get it." So we got off before our destination and walked back to the first bus stop. Well … it was gone. I checked the trash cans on each corner, but no luck. Essentially this contained her "life" … meds, I.D., birth certificate … whatever might be important and needed … glasses … damn.

Well, we immediately figured there are ways to replace all of these … it is just a pain in the ass to have to structure your life around all of this "stuff". So, we bite the bullet and plan accordingly. And thus we caught the next bus and proceeded to our original destination.

We were on the way to a "Homeless Resource Fair". We had preregistered at the ARCH a week before and they provided day bus passes for us. This "fair" is sponsored by an organization called ECHO and their purpose is to assist the homeless, similarly to that of the ARCH. "Front Steps" is the organization who runs the ARCH and works closely with ECHO.

ECHO coordinates the efforts of numerous social and medical agencies and puts on this Homeless Resource Fair once a year. And there are more agencies than I can put my finger on who are ready, willing and able to lend their support, time and energies into this event. And this is where the "paradox" manifests. At the fair sleeping bags and back packs are given to the homeless. Clothes, shoes, gloves, stocking caps, medical care, dental care, vision care, toiletries, showers, haircuts, and just about anything else you can imagine one living on the streets might need. About 900 sleeping bags are given to any who need them, and these provided by the Downtown Austin Community Court … the same court you must appear before if you are ticketed or arrested for sleeping in a public area. Yet, we have sleeping bags, and back packs. Of course, I can't take my sleeping bag into the library … "It's against our rules".

This is a battle of "wills" and spiritual values I can see here in the Austin community. There are those who would like a hard line against the homeless, and there are many. They find the homeless presence and embarrassment. This week there is a Formula One race taking place in Austin and the police have orders to clear the streets of the homeless. There is an expected 200,000 international visitors coming and we don't want the homeless presence. They smell, they beg, they are dirty and they do not reflect our capitalistic corporatist values. They "do not" exist in "our world", at least, not if they can't be seen.

Then there are those who for whatever reason recognize that such a situation exists, which would leave a man, a woman, a child … without house or home or resources to what are considered normal expectations in life. These causes for this are innumerable. Yes, drugs and alcohol can play a part, so can psychological conditions, bad decision making … the list can go on and on... even matters of "no fault" must be considered. Yet there are persons of vision and faith who realize the value of a human being, imperfect as any may be. And these give of themselves to help, some by profession … others by volunteering. And the thing that motivates them may be just as innumerable and complex as the cause of the necessity. And, we can not discount the religious motivation. Yet, those who are, for the most part, are soft spoken about it.

And I am believing, even though the city fathers and civic organizations are pressuring the courts (and the police), not all, as part of these structures are as hard lined as the "John Wayne" types would like them to be. After all, the courts gave me a sleeping bag.

More about this tomorrow … But that sleeping bag sure made a hell of a difference last night …. Ask Mary.