Last Friday, I was walking to the train with a couple of guys from my team and witnessed something that bothered me, but my reaction has caused me greater concern. A homeless man was attempting to sell ‘Streetwise’ to a crowd waiting for a bus, but not having much luck. A tall man standing along the wall told him to get out of his face and called him a bum. In reaction the homeless guy spouted off as he walked away about the guy’s sister being a bum. The guy along the wall, which had to be 6 inches taller and 15 to 20 years younger than the homeless man, decided to defend his sister’s honor. He yelled after the homeless man and proceeded to threaten the guy. When the homeless guy turn around he was grabbed him by his head and neck and pulled to the ground. This all happened as I walked on past the scene into Union Station, concerned I would miss my train. Once I stepped in guilt and anger overwhelmed me.

I was not any better than the twenty to thirty people standing on the sidewalk not doing anything to assist or defend a man in need. I should of… I could have… I started to think about the situation I just walked from and why it was imperative that I step in. This man will not be able to easily walk into a hospital and receive services for his injuries or even a sanitary place to clean his wounds. The wounds he may have received may have caused even greater hardship than he was already experiencing. We all just watched this man be treated as less than a man that was just attempting to sell a dollar paper that supports the homeless of Chicago. I felt guilt that I hadn’t prevent the act from going any further and show the homeless man that he was valued and not going to be ignored, which in turn angered me. I couldn’t get the scene and my actions out of head for a couple of days it sat there tormenting me for my inaction. The hope I have from this event is just that, the uneasiness of my non-action and the burden I carried for that man after the fact.

Has man become so numb to those around us or is it just those that we do not see a use or value? Do you think the scene would have been repeated if the homeless man had been a homecoming queen?