Stun Gun Attack Demonstrates Shift in Attitude

Commentary by Sam Y. Brown

            Not that “we” all even felt it, it was no joke to stun or tease a person no matter their race or because of the fact that they were sleeping on the streets. Being homeless, helpless or just plain down and out is no reason to torment.

            Where is our compassion in this day and age? Where is the love for humanity? Where is the individual that had cared about life, and let people live without having to “stun” a person as they slept on the streets?

            So we are sleeping out there out of necessarily because we have no other options. We have to buy food and keep ourselves alive at our own expense. It is a mistake to judge the down trodden, the outcast, the keepers of the park benches at night, the night dwellers, and the simple “no place to go” individuals. We must not dare to judge these people, for we may just find ourselves with “no place to go” and living on a park bench.

            Just when a person says, “Not me!” or they think, “It would never happen to me, well in the blink of an eye, BAM! POW! Hey! What’s going on?, and Oh, my God! Eviction.”

            Rent is due. Light bill is due. Gas is due. Food is running short. Kids crying. The car won’t start, nor run. The landlord is knocking on the door. You’re under the weather—nothing is as it was before…things change.

            So we must say a prayer and believe in the power of our most merciful Creator. Therefore, it may get hectic, but never totally “out of the ball park.” We all need to hang in there no matter what, how or where you find yourself. Remember and God’s speed!

            Editor’s Note: Sam Brown is a Homeless Grapevine vendor and has experience with homelessness.

Copyright to the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and the Homeless Grapevine Cleveland Ohio December 2003 Issue 63.