Street People are people who, either by choice or economic pressures, find themselves with no fixed address, living on the streets. They do not have a roof over their heads, running water, or a fridge full of healthy, nutritious foods to make supper or breakfast with. Who are Street people? Street people are people who live on the streets, under bridges, in cardboard boxes down by the River, or in a tent hidden from the authorities. They do not want to be anywhere else, other than, maybe, a nicer, warmer city to lounge around in. Some street people are on the streets to "live life to the fullest", not encumbered by society's laws and customs. Usually with tattoo's aplenty and body piercings' everywhere, these sort will gather in larger crowds, and defend each other. They either do it for the "free" feeling, or because it is free. When someone makes the choice between rent and a bottle of Rum, and the alcohol wins, they are choosing the life that follows, and are soon "street people". Ditto for drug users, and anyone else (gamblers, etc) who would rather spend their money on seedy things than rent. But when they are on the streets because they got laid off from a low-paying job and have no possible way of meeting their rent, they fall into the streets, not by choice, but by economic turmoil.

Some "Street people" are on the streets for a short time, trying to get their acts together. You will find these people staying in shelters on the cold, stormy and lonesome nights. Some have just "fallen through the cracks" and need someone to give them a push, and a little assistance. Maybe they were laid off from rather productive jobs, and no others are available for them. Moving to another City is just a risk and expense that they cannot afford.

Defining who "Street people" are is like defining what a meal is. It is different things to different people. Some are there because they want to be, some are there because they have absolutely no choice in the matter. These two different "species of street people" vary in the fact that one wants to be there, and one doesn't.

When working two or three jobs just to make the rent, and with children in tow, living on the streets should not be a choice; when somebody else's welfare depends upon your choices, the choices made have to be to the benefit of the child, not the state of your mind. If the jobs are not working out, seeking help from a shelter, until you can save up rent for a new place to live, is a lot better than putting your children at risk. These are not "street people", these are the homeless, there is a major difference, that being choice. "Street people" live on the streets, in the alleys and parks, to be with their friends, to get away from over-bearing parents, or just to try living "free". Since living in the wilds is not exactly everyone's cup of tea, these free-spirited individuals, who do not want to be subjugated by the laws of the land, would rather spend the money that they do have on things that make them feel better, be they drugs, alcohol or companionship with no strings attached (for example, a teenager running away from an abusive parent who knows people that already live on the streets); finding non-committal relationships with people in the same situation they find themselves in.

Being "free" is something to aspire to. Living on the streets? Not so much. To some, it is a badge of honor, to others, a completely unwanted nightmare. To the latter go my sympathies, and whatever change I can spare. To the others, you get my respect, but thats' all.

Learn more about this author, Marc Phillippe Babineau.
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