Guy on the subway

Yesterday Noah and I were on the train, when I told him, "I've been thinking about him a lot lately." Noah knew exactly who I was talking about. It was a man I crossed paths with a few weeks ago.

Bear and I were on the train, again, heading to meet Noah and his coworkers to go bowling. A man got on the train and sat a few seats down from me. He smelled horrible like he lived in a trash can. After I looked at him, I could see that he most likely did live in a trash can. He could barely walk with his cane. People would get on the subway and make rude remarks about the smell. Obnoxious teenagers would yell things in that horrible language. I watched as all this went down, and the man began to cry. I didn't do anything. I just watched in horror.

I was absolutely horrified. I couldn't believe that people are so cruel. They just totally disregarded him as a human. They treated him like a trash can that needed lysol. The thing that disgusted me the most was that I just sat by and watched. I didn't do anything. I didn't try to protect this man from the worst side of humanity, disregard and cruelty. I also didn't give him anything. I should have given him money, taken him to a hostel, done something to help. I didn't though. I just sat by and watched the abuse and watched the man cry. Now, it haunts me. My heart breaks for this man daily. It breaks for him and all the other people that the world forgot. He is somebody's son. He is possibly somebody's brother, father, or uncle. He has dreams, and he probably had a time in his life when things went right for him.

I know some people are homeless and have problems because of bad choices they have made, but they are still people. We've all made bad choices. Please, the next time you see one of these people don't be rude. Follow what you learned in elementary school. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Please try to be considerate and remember that people still have feelings no matter what situation they are in.