The visibility of poverty: buying lunch

Today I bought a mental homeless man lunch. I'll admit that I resited it. I was finishing up my burrito outside the student cafe, in a hurry for my next class. But he caught my eye. He was wandering from table to table, asking for someone to buy him food. Should he have been there? Probably not. Is it good for business to have him soliciting the place? Probably not. But it doesn't really matter. Buying him lunch had more to do with me not wanting to brush the ugliness of poverty under the rug. I just had to face it, do my part to help a hungry person. He didn't even say thanks. He just darted away with his food after asking me for more money. I didn't mind. After a delicious lunch and sunny break, I felt relieved to do something for someone without my good fortune.

I'm glad he was wandering around. I see lots of other folks like him, digging through garbage cans, etc. on Sproul. It doesn't beautify campus, but, if anything, it reminds all of us students like me with our minds in the clouds--homework, friends, boyfriends, career, homework, friends, boyfriends, career, new clothes? homework, friends, boyfriends, career, am I skinny enough?! etc.--basically, we need to see that life isn't so pretty for some people before we commit to our little rat race tracks.