One Paycheck Away from the Street

There are times when I worry about the quality of reporting in today's world. Sometimes it's like the reporters are just "repeaters", simply publishing what's handed to them in talking points. And then I come across a story like Amy Dominello's in the Greensboro, North Carolina Record. Not just a re-write of a press release, it actually tells a story and has all of the elements of great journalism. It tells the story of Michael Brown, who lost his job and is now homeless. Michael has started a blog, View From the Sidewalk, which he updates from the Greensboro Public Library, and he's offering a first person account of his situation. His blog is getting worldwide attention. People are encouraging him to put a Paypal donation button on his blog, so that they can contribute money to him. The newspaper story interests me in a number of ways; the writing style, as well as the subject matter. A few years ago, my wife and I lost our jobs and we were a couple of pay checks away from the street. She and my then infant son went to live with her mother and I stayed with friends. (By the way, our situation is a lot better now. We're 10 pay checks away from the street) The right wing radio talk show hosts have spent years demonizing the homeless by calling them mentally ill or claiming that somehow they preferred living under an overpass, rather than being gainfully employed. During local ratings periods, there would be the inevitable undercover piece where they follow a "will work for food" guy around and find that he lives with his mother in a $200k (in Texas) house. I have always felt that this type of reporting is extremely selective and has the effect of making people skeptical about the true intentions of the homeless. This was apparent to me when a guy with one arm and a sign came up to me at an intersection. I gave him a $5 bill. My son, who was about 14 at the time said that he would probably spend it on booze or drugs. I asked him how he could be so sure about that and he told me he saw a report on Channel 4 about people who claim to be homeless, but are not. I told him that we have no way of knowing whether somebody is a fraud or not and that in the case of somebody who appears homeless, I'd rather take a chance that they're genuine, rather than penalize the many who are truly homeless. I've been taken in and swindled by auto mechanics, lawyers and salesmen. That doesn't mean that I avoid all mechanics, lawyers and salesmen, since there are bad apples in every group. Besides, I've never seen an ad that says "No homeless person will call."