The Homeless

Leah C.

February 20, 2010 - 4:00 PM

In my previous blog, I mentioned about getting someone arrested. Whom? A homeless guy who did nothing to harm me or my friends. This incident occurred during our HKSA valentines fundraiser. We were selling Hershey kiss roses that we had made in front of the bookstore and a homeless guy had taken shelter from the rain right next to our table. He burned some incense, turned on his portable stereo and held a cardboard sign asking for help. I was too busy to notice him until one of the members pointed him out. She suggested that we move to the other side of the entrance door for our sale and our image. Honestly there was no other reason than to avoid the guy's presence and the smell of his burning incense.

I went inside the Duck Store to the customer service desk, and asked the worker if we would be able to move our table to a different spot. We had originally reserved for the left side of the entrance door and wanted to take the right side. Unfortunately I was told that they had all been reserved. Since the other groups have not yet arrived, I explained my situation and said that we would only move there temporarily until the group came. The woman at the front desk promptly told me that she would call security to remove the man. Shocked, I insisted that he had not directly bothered us and hoped that she would not call security. The worker said that it wouldn't matter since he would still need to leave. Apparently, pan handling in front of their business was illegal and another student group would soon take his spot.

I went outside and saw the rain. I felt really guilty for what would soon happen. I explained the situation to the two girls who were working in the morning shift and took my place at the table. I was supposed to leave the table after set up, but I couldn't leave them knowing what would happen. When I sat down, the homeless guy shouted at us, "I'm hungry, can I have a rose." Hesitantly, one of the girls said yes and handed him a rose. We all just sat there, staring out at the rain and making small conversation. We obviously were trying to avoid eye contact with the homeless guy.
The Duck Store manager came out and kindly asked the guy to leave. The manager said that he could not relate to his situation, but that what he was doing was illegal. The homeless guy got angry and began to shout that no one could help him, that it was raining, and that the manager should just leave him alone. He claimed that he was being kicked out into the streets, while "they (HKSA) had the right to sell roses." He also pointed out a poster above him, claiming that the world is messed up for helping Haiti when people like him in this country needed help too.

Hearing all this, I felt really sorry. I personally do not know what situation he is in or whether he could not find help. All I knew was that it was raining, and I felt that it was my fault for starting this situation. The manager finally told him that if he didn't leave he would be forced to call the police. The homeless guy retaliated and accused the manager of kicking him out and claimed that the authorities were out to taser him. I sat and looking straight ahead as the whole ordeal passed. What could I have done? The homeless guy was became verbally aggressive and it was my fault for letting the store know of his presence.

One cop, then another followed, after the homeless guy said he wouldn't respond to any of their orders unless two cops came. They arrested him and put him in the squad car as he shouted towards the direction of his items, screaming that they were his only possessions. As the cop car pulled out, the girl who suggested we move our table gave me a pity look and sarcastically said, "Leah you just put someone in jail!" I didn't know what to think anymore. The whole ordeal was so unfair. I felt really bad for what had happened. Even though the way the homeless guy retaliated was a bit rude...it does not explain why he deserved to be in his current situation - no place to call home, hungry and cold. It just made me realize that there are a lot of people who are in much worse situations than me. I'm lucky I have a home, family, and friends. I think this experience definitely brought awareness to myself and the world around me.