Advice to the Homeless
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This tent city story on East Hastings has aroused me. Today I heard one of the campers refer to the downtown eastside as the Third World. And yesterday, in a related story from California, I heard a frontline doctor calling opioid addiction a chronic disease. The downtown eastside is not the Third World, not even close. They're boiling grass to feed their babies in Afghanistan. And they haven't been receiving $2000.00 cheques from the government every second month, on top of their normal government allowance, to help them through the COVID crisis for the last two years. They get no money from their government. They get nothing, zero. And couldn't all that extra money have helped to pay the rent in a new home somewhere by now? Not if you want to pump it all up your arm as soon as you get it. As for diseases, I always thought that they chose us, not that we chose them. Frankly, it's a very poor decision to get mixed up with hard drugs like fentanyl or meth or crack. Bad choices bring bad results. Addiction is chronic, but it is essentially chosen, at least in the beginning, so I wouldn't call it a disease. Maybe the dealers who are passing it around the streets on welfare day could be considered a disease, but that's another story. Vancouver folks are very sweet. They are the nicest people on earth. Home owners don't pass judgement around here, they just feel compassion, though they may worry for their own safety in such close proximity to a homeless campsite. Used syringes litter their sidewalks, and the smell of faeces is as disturbing as it is offensive. Where I come from, back in rural Ontario, you wouldn't be allowed to pitch a tent on the sidewalk for any length of time, let alone for years on end, and you better pay your rent or you could freeze to death in the winter. I don't want to generalize about the down-and-out because I know that individual circumstances can be exceptional, but a few things need to be said with the aim of hopefully inspiring some of them to overcome their condition. Firstly, don't be so proud of your tent city. Being exposed on the street like that is cause for shame, not for pride. If you feel bad enough about it, you might find a way out of there. If you find an affordable place, it won't be so great, but make the most of it. My grandfather used to say that 'you can keep a woodshed clean.' Next, don't expect others to help you too much. Just like you wouldn't want a stranger asking you for help all the time, the same goes for others around you. You must find strength in yourself. Your community can only do so much for you. Go down to the day labour office or something and try to find paying work. Lastly, get clean. You'll need your brain for the challenges that lie ahead. I'm hardly a smashing success, myself, I know, but this attitude has at least kept a roof over my head through some very thin times. I could have hanged myself at the hands of all those stars, too, but I showed them I'm not so weak. I went out and got a full-time job. I've had it for three years now. Life can be pretty good once you get set up with a job and an affordable home. I'm sure you can do the same if you try. Good luck to you. |
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| © 2022. Statements by David Skerkowski. All rights reserved. |
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