Homeless in America

When most people see me on the street, they automatically assume that I am a student. After all I have a rather full backpack on my back and I am usually found wearing jeans and a t-shirt. That could not be further from the truth though. The real truth is I am homeless.

The face of homelessness has changed a lot from what many people picture it. Most people automatically think of the classic picture of a smelly male bum with an alcohol problem. Not a late 20's female who is clean, reasonably well dressed, and seems intelligent. When I explain to people that I am homeless, a lot refuse to believe it. This was brought home to me today as I was walking along the streets near the homeless shelter I live in. I was traveling between different stores looking for a job. A man stopped me on the corner and wanted to interview me. He did not seem to believe me when I told him that I was homeless and that I had no experience with the situation he was interviewing people for. I finally walked off from him so he would leave me alone.

Honestly I don't really understand why it is so hard for people to believe that I am homeless. Being homeless was not my choice. I can't control the bad luck that caused my situation, nor can I go back in time and prevent it. What happened, has happened. At this time my only option is to rise above it. This is a long path, and jumping off the hard road to the path of least resistance often lands you back where you started.

I don't think I will get used to the way people treat me differently once they find out though. This is the third time I have been homeless, and it never softens the blow. Each time I tell people the way they look at me changes. Instead of being the college student out on the town, I am now the drag on society that is causing their tax rate to increase. I am now seen as a beggar, and not a person fit to live in regular society. They see me this way because if I could live like other people I would, wouldn't I?