It's Cold Out There

DESTITUTE .. a person who is dead broke, without a cent.

VAGRANT .. a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging.

America ..... doesn't matter the time or place, whether 1 or 4 am - the night remains dark and cloudy with the wind blowing keeping the ground wet and frigid. One sentence describes the life of a destitute person. But why relate the worst of the nights' condition to being destitute?

Destitute, that's a curious word. What does it mean? Being dead broke - is the basic definition. I used to hear this. "If you don't improve, you could grow up without a penny to your name." If you are poor aren't you too destitute?

Stop that man he's a vagrant! If proven you are a vagrant, you might go to jail. That was once true. Now the laws look the other way. If the police arrested every homeless person, the streets might appear deserted.

A homeless person suffers under two definitions, destitution and vagrancy. And, definitions drive us. Throwing things out there without a legal definition might prevent law enforcement from describing what being both destitute and a vagrant is thus causing confusion.

But, these days, confusion seems relevant. Not only do homeless people suffer shame, a stigma points to them. They fall into a legal definition and that's bad because law enforcement might act. Remember, we are a nation of definitions. We must define a crime before we can act. What sensible law enforcement or governmental agency will arrest anybody without due cause? The public simply would not stand idly by and let that happen.

Homelessness defines both destitution and vagrancy. Don't you see? If you can be homeless, many possibilities present themselves! Gosh, if the definition fits wear it. Go ahead, get the benefits you deserve. Well, maybe 'deserve' is too greedy sounding. We'll say 'don't deserve'. The fault is yours, being homeless. Isn't it? Although many people become homeless by choice most fall into the role by force.

Today you have a well-paying job. But, in a month you're laid off. Unemployment starts but it's not enough to pay the bills. Over the next 6 months, you get further and further behind. In a year you're homeless, living on the streets. If you're lucky, you live in your automobile. No job, unemployment ran out. You're both a statistic and 'a' - wait on it - definition. Ha, now you're official and those governmental agencies are waiting with open arms. Your tax dollars at work.

to be continued .....