CONSIDER THIS: Homeless, Heartless and Humane

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Michael Rodriguez

Michael Rodriguez

It’s amazing what we’ve become accustomed to tolerating – atrocities committed against children, public corruption that has infiltrated nearly every aspect of law and government, paralyzing prejudice the likes of which has quietly oppressed the inflicted as well as the inflictor, and the suffocating apathy that allowed it all to go unchallenged. Take into further consideration the fact that many of us expend more energy fretting over missing our morning cup of coffee than we do expressing disgust of all things vile in the world.

It’s indeed a slow death that society is dying, one that will not be on anyone else’s hands but our own. After all, what would one expect from people who’ve grown uncaring of all that demands their attention yet increasingly devoted to depravity.

That was the bad news.

The good news is that within each of us lies the key to our own salvation, a code – if you will – written within our DNA that makes nobility possible at every juncture… we need only to make the right choices.

It’s the same code that prompts us to say a prayer for a child fighting cancer, that encourages us to volunteer for a worthy cause, and that moves us to give a little something to someone in possession of little or nothing. San Benito is not the exception to these acts of benevolence, especially when considering a revealing discussion with a homeless woman who calls our city streets home.

She was resting on a wrought iron park bench Thursday when I approached her and the stray dog she’s adopted. The woman, who I’ll call Dorothy, is well-known in the community for pushing a grocery cart filled with personal belongings all over town. Tagging along is her trusty sidekick who, for lack of a better name, I’ll call Toto.

Dorothy and Toto usually sleep at bus stops, benches and on the unforgiving pavement up and down Sam Houston Boulevard, where I’ve had the opportunity to get to know her a little better since she often parks her cart outside the San Benito News office.

Our employees regularly pitch in to buy Dorothy meals that she can share with Toto, naturally. She has a blanket to sleep under when it’s cold outside and she rolls her pants up for a little ventilation when it’s hot. During a storm, Dorothy scrambles to find a canopy or awning for shelter from the pouring rain. When she’s hungry, she digs into her grocery cart for any one of the meals that local residents have generously given to her – yes, she rations.

Because homelessness is no longer a new phenomenon, Dorothy’s story up until this point may appear to some as a trivial aspect of daily life – a story that no longer shocks the masses but washes over us like water over a stone. Unaffected. Unmoved.

But what if I told you that one of Dorothy’s greatest fears in this her current predicament is whether she’ll one day be raped and killed? What if I told you that she’s already been violated on more than one occasion? And what if I told you that chief among her worries is the terrifying thought that someone, somewhere at some point may take the life of her beloved Toto?

Would you be affected? Would you be moved? Would it matter if you knew that she spent time in jail for assault? If so, would your tenderness then discriminate, or is your compassion unconditional?

To give without question, prejudice or forethought is written in our DNA, yes, but to put it in action despite all our better judgment screaming otherwise is what truly separates the merciful from the empty gestures of the heartless.

Still, what Dorothy left me with on Thursday was by far the best case for our city’s salvation that I’ve heard yet: Nearly every day, the citizens of San Benito have either given her money, food, transportation or a place to shower. These are the actions of people who have grown intolerant of the inhumanity on display in the world around them, and like them, I encourage everyone reading this piece to do more than just shake your head.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2014/05/31/consider-this-homeless-heartless-and-humane/

3 comments

    • Frank on June 1, 2014 at 4:19 am
    • Reply

    Now everytime I see her I’m gonna think her name is dorothy

    • Reform San Benito on May 31, 2014 at 1:53 pm
    • Reply

    Ahh, the Twitter generation: Brain can only handle so many characters before the ADHD kicks in. It’s an editorial, not a news story. It is amazing what we’ve become accustomed to tolerating — and not tolerating. Too many remain silent when they should speak out, and nitpick and criticize when they should remain silent.

    I agree with Michael’s philosophical assessment: San Benito is full of benevolent, good, hard-working people. It’s a shame that headlines about our city in recent years portray us as anything but. It’s why I’ve been railing for years, we deserve better!

    For one who has publicly doubted himself over the years and questioned his value in this very column, may you fully grasp and grow into the Lord’s plan for your life — to remind an entire community of virtues and decency, and periodically reset our moral compass. Nice piece, Michael.

  1. “Whom” would be appropriate if preceded by a preposition (to whom do I owe the pleasure…) or if used as an object (whom do you believe is responsible). In this case, “whom” may indeed be appropriate when stating, “The woman, whom I’ll call Dorothy…” if you consider “whom” the object of woman/Dorothy. But this does not mean the use of “who” is inappropriate. Consider that “whom” has been characterized as formal in nature and not necessarily mandated by the rules of grammar.

    And thanks for the tips!

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