Pain and Dirt

Homelessness is a problem people have chosen to ignore day after day for hundreds of decades. Yes, when guilt gets in the way there is an occasional dollar or two given out, but has anyone tried to understand why or how one became homeless? Is their life much different from ours? Very few have actually sat down and interviewed them to find out about their past and present. Remember, there is a personality behind each dirty emotionless face and a reason why they do the things they do. If the working, middle, and upper class could only see that the “untouchables” have feelings as well, negative light might be lifted off the homeless and good would come out of it.

In the movie Dark Days, director Marc Singer decided to document the lives of many homeless people living in vast dark tunnels under New York City. All the homeless had similar experiences with life such as family tragedies, drug addiction, and loss of love, shelter and food but all felt sorrow and regret for the things they had done. “It’s a dump down there,” Singer says, “pitch black, rats running around everywhere, garbage, and smells that make your eyes water. When I first went down there, I was amazed and awed; I had so much respect for everybody and I kept thinking, “Could I have done this or would I have let myself go to pieces?” (indiewire) In the movie the police threatened to make all the tunnel residents within 30 days or face a forcible eviction. “They should leave us down here until they get housing then once they get housing they should ship us out,” said one of the upset residents after the police told them they would get them housing and shelter. “They are going to break up the family…I”ve got three words and it’s not I love you…its leave us alone!” said another angry homeless man. None of them wanted to go to a shelter. They worried about their stuff could get stolen or being infected with drugs and/or unclean drugs. When I heard that information on the video I found it surprising that the homeless would be worried about being infected by something (let alone drugs), but later on in my own interview at a local restaurant with Michael, a homeless man, I found out that he had the same reasoning. He said that “Shelters are unclean and you don’t know who is around you. Most don’t have background checks and the ones I have been to don’t even have a registry. You might be sleeping with a psycho and get killed during the middle of the night.” I then asked what he did instead “Man, here in Austin I tie my hammock above Barton Springs and sleep above the water. It’s peaceful and relaxing. I feel safe with the water flowing underneath you…Man it’s like heaven.”