i work downtown in an area where the professional bums and beggars, who I will refer to as human parasites from now on, go to try and "earn" their livings. "Human parasites? Wow, you are so mean! What's your problem with people who are just a little down on their luck?" you might be saying to yourself right now. Well, I was walking back to work after a lunch break, and a grubby looking man walks up to me with a beat-up cardboard box full of used clothes and several cd and dvds without cases. He told me that he was so down on his luck and his kids were so hungry and just needed to try and sell some things in the hopes that he would have enough to feed his family that night. I felt terrible because all I had on me to give was a few cents, maybe enough to get him half a bag of Ramen noodles if he was lucky. He tucked the box under his arm, thanked me profusely, then plodded on down the sidewalk. As I turned and sadly watched him walk away, he put his free hand in his pocket, produced a set of keys, and pressed the button on the key ring, setting the alarm on his nearby well-kept car.
I have no real concept of what it feels like to wake up in a tub of ice with a missing kidney, or to wake up and reach across your bed to find the person you were expecting to lovingly touch missing along with most of the major electronics you had the previous night, but I think I might have an idea...