First of all - they aren't "the homeless". Unless the rest of us are "the homed". They are PEOPLE who DON'T HAVE A HOME.
Imagine that, just for a second.
Nowhere to retreat. No bed. No choice of food. No quiet or safe space. No place to ... stop.
And now... you can't sit down either. Or lie down. On public space that doesn't matter to anyone. Because someone put SPIKES there for the express purpose of denying you the comfort of sitting down on a concrete slab. You walked all day ... keep on walking. We don't need your kind here. You're not people... you're "the homeless".
Tell me, please, how this attitude is different, except in degree, to attitudes behind slavery, genocide and the like? "You aren't human enough to sit down in a public space."
And don't - DO NOT - tell me that it's their fault somehow. No one grows up dreaming of being without a place to live. Are there choices? Sure, sometimes. More obstacles in the way of making good choices than I've ever had to face? Almost always. Does "the system" work? Uh, no. At its best, it is short-term and dehumanizing.
I don't rant often. And I can't solve it all. But I'll tell you this: there will be NO spikes installed around MY church. (Or my home, for that matter. If someone wants to sit on my front porch, they can.) One of my goals is to find an affordable bench or two to drill into the concrete around Crossfire, so there IS a place to rest.
And anyone will be welcome to it. They can also use the washroom. And have a bottle of water.
Who's with me?
#NOspikes
