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Tricia Rowley
Writing 121, Group 91
November 25, 2009
Dumpster Diver
Imagine being kicked out at the age of 17 and living on the streets with no food,
shelter, and no money. Every day you walk down to the local grocery store and carefully
stuff frozen wet burritos in your long, black jacket and hope the owner of the store does
not catch you stealing food, when he does, you bolt from the store in a high-speed chase
through town. Eventually, you make it back to your cardboard box under the cold dark
bridge and quickly devour your frozen burrito. Your stomach is only temporarily full
until it rumbles again. We see them in crowds, gathering in groups, sleeping on benches,
underneath bridges and even in back alleys. Collectively, we call them “the homeless,”
as if it defines who they are, but we neglect to add the unspoken word in the title: people.
They are people who have social disabilities, mental illnesses or financial problems and
society usually abandons them. According to the National Law Center, during the past
year, over two million men, women and children, or nearly one percent of the U.S.
Population, were homeless (“National”). The growing homeless population shows that
people are suffering unexpected financial problems and struggling to maintain their lives
and what we need to recognize about this population is that is it is still growing, and it
will not change unless we recognize that it is a problem (“National”). Being homeless
does not result from being lazy, slovenly or irresponsibly.
