Cold Indifference
My heart aches today.
The buzz on the streets is about a photograph that was printed on page One of the Detroit News yesterday (01/29/2009) of a presumably homeless man frozen in ice at the bottom of an elevator shaft. All that can be seen are his feet; blue jeans, clean white socks, and black shoes with worn soles but new laces. The buzz is a debate about the appropriateness of the photograph being published. That is NOT THE ISSUE HERE!!!!
A man died. He has been laying at the bottom of an elevator shaft for perhaps a month per some reports, and all people can talk about was whether it was ok to print the picture. Everyone weighing in (including me) are sitting at our COMPUTERS, in our WARM homes/offices, most likely with full bellies and too many clothes in the closet debating on whether the media went to far. The sad reality is there was something like this to go too far with.
A man died. Some have said he had no respect for himself (as evidenced by his homelessness?) He was homeless, probably a druggie or alcoholic. They don't know this! Are they saying this to make themselves feel better? Perhaps he was an out of work or under employed man who was looking for scrap metal to sell. Maybe he was an urban spelunker (I have many friends who are) and he took a tumble down this elevator shaft. It doesn't matter what his background is, HE DIED.
I cry. I want to help. What can I do? The crying is out of frustration. What CAN I do? I struggle to keep myself and my son afloat. I help out my friends when I can. But, damn it, something has to be done.
Some have criticized the other homeless who have been "living" in this building (I say it's more like surviving than living) for not calling the police. One man says the body has been there over a month. Why didn't they call? If the building gets boarded up, where will they go? Yep, sounds callous, sounds cold. Would I call, absolutely! But I have a warm house to go home to. If I was fighting every day to stay alive, to have a roof over my head, no matter how dilapidated it may be, I may just let things be and hope to see the morning.
I want to go help them, round them all up and feed them chicken noodle soup. I want to give them socks and shoes and clothes, a warm bed and a smile. I know some homeless choose to live like that, but I know many do not.
A 67 year old man man was found in Sumpter Township frozen in his truck. He had been living in it as his utilities had been turned off in his home. His dogs were dead as well from starvation or the cold. No Photos.
The buzz on the streets is about a photograph that was printed on page One of the Detroit News yesterday (01/29/2009) of a presumably homeless man frozen in ice at the bottom of an elevator shaft. All that can be seen are his feet; blue jeans, clean white socks, and black shoes with worn soles but new laces. The buzz is a debate about the appropriateness of the photograph being published. That is NOT THE ISSUE HERE!!!!
A man died. He has been laying at the bottom of an elevator shaft for perhaps a month per some reports, and all people can talk about was whether it was ok to print the picture. Everyone weighing in (including me) are sitting at our COMPUTERS, in our WARM homes/offices, most likely with full bellies and too many clothes in the closet debating on whether the media went to far. The sad reality is there was something like this to go too far with.
A man died. Some have said he had no respect for himself (as evidenced by his homelessness?) He was homeless, probably a druggie or alcoholic. They don't know this! Are they saying this to make themselves feel better? Perhaps he was an out of work or under employed man who was looking for scrap metal to sell. Maybe he was an urban spelunker (I have many friends who are) and he took a tumble down this elevator shaft. It doesn't matter what his background is, HE DIED.
I cry. I want to help. What can I do? The crying is out of frustration. What CAN I do? I struggle to keep myself and my son afloat. I help out my friends when I can. But, damn it, something has to be done.
Some have criticized the other homeless who have been "living" in this building (I say it's more like surviving than living) for not calling the police. One man says the body has been there over a month. Why didn't they call? If the building gets boarded up, where will they go? Yep, sounds callous, sounds cold. Would I call, absolutely! But I have a warm house to go home to. If I was fighting every day to stay alive, to have a roof over my head, no matter how dilapidated it may be, I may just let things be and hope to see the morning.
I want to go help them, round them all up and feed them chicken noodle soup. I want to give them socks and shoes and clothes, a warm bed and a smile. I know some homeless choose to live like that, but I know many do not.
A 67 year old man man was found in Sumpter Township frozen in his truck. He had been living in it as his utilities had been turned off in his home. His dogs were dead as well from starvation or the cold. No Photos.
A 93 year old man in Bay City was found frozen to death after the power company put a power limiter on his home. No Pictures.
All cold weather related tragedies. All made the news. But this story makes a buzz. Because of a picture. Do I think it's in poor taste to print photographs of people who have died? I guess that depends. THIS photograph got people taking at least. Thawed some hearts and minds. This man can not be identified by the photograph (even the other people living in the building said as much) but the photograph sure made it real.
My heart aches this morning. What can I do? What can WE do?
posted by Angela | 03:57
1 Comments:
I wholly agree with you. Quite frankly, I think the picture is worth, as the saying goes, more than any words could ever say. Had I read the story of a homeless man being found frozen to death, I would have read it as I have so many other stories of homeless people dying in weather related situations. However, seeing this image, the manner in which his life was ended and then reduced to that of nothing more than the rubbish which surrounds him, is haunting. I don't mind that perhaps more souls were haunted over this image. I hope people complained because the image made them sick to their stomachs and gave them nightmares (as it will me). Maybe then they will actually feel compelled to do something about such situations ever being allowed to occur in the first place. I only wish it didn't take such a horrific death to create change. As you know, I live in Bay City. There were a lot of circumstances surrounding the death of the elderly man who had the limiter placed on his home, but the end of the story is that such limiters were not only immediately stopped, but removed from homes on which they had been placed. It is indeed a case in which one person's death was not in vain, and may well have helped to save, not only the lives of others, but some humanity in the rest of us.
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