We all know who she is. She’s the one on Hillsborough Street, the one who asks for change. She kind of talks funny and her tongue lolls around in her mouth. And we walk by her everyday, and when we see her we put our headphones in or start up a fake conversation on our cellphones or basically, avoid eye contact with her.
She’s almost as much of N.C. State history as the “Walking Professor” and “Gary the Brickyard Preacher.” There are rumors about her: the mandolin player is really a millionaire and takes care of her. She’s some professor’s relative and they feed her and house her. Sadlack’s puts her up a lot of the time in regards to food and shelter. We discuss about her situation but very little about any solution.
There’s a problem in the world. I don’t say on campus, because I don’t believe it’s exclusive to us, and I don’t say a “growing” problem, because it’s probably been around for a while, and we’ve just learned to live with it.
No one who reads this article is OK with people being homeless, but we walk by them everyday and do absolutely nothing. Oh, sometimes if I’m in a good mood, I might give my change to her, or someone else that asks. But neither I, nor most of the people reading this, have done a single thing to actually combat the problem of the homeless. Or honestly, any problem.
Yet we will make statements to the contrary all the time. I’ve seen this campus scream and wail about having a joke candidate win the student body presidency, claiming it will raise interest in the student body elections, and then seen absolutely no one show up for the candidate debate forum the next year.
I’ve seen guys say they are for gay rights, but balk at the mention of stepping in a gay bar. I’ve seen people say they believe abortion is murder and then somehow just keep on writing notes or eating food.
Of course, these aren’t all equal issues. A student body election being a joke and a person exclaiming a woman’s right to choose is murder are two different situations. But the reactions are the same; apathy.
We speak loudly but don’t even reach for the stick. Fear? Laziness? Reasons why don’t interest me.
What’s more important is that we can stop it.
I’m not saying everyone needs to sacrifice all their time to help others or stand up for causes. It’d be nice if we could live in that kind of world but we have a lot of things to do and not a lot of time. But we don’t sacrifice any time to solve any of the problems.
When did we start to lack conviction behind our beliefs? When did it become OK to have absolutely nothing invested in your opinions? Where did good deeds go?
We all know the annoying kid who sits up front and seems to have an anecdote about everything the professor says. When did we start leaping to quiet insults under our breath to pander to those around us instead of talking to him and telling him what the issue was civilly? Why does everything seem to have a lack of human decency and passion behind it? A small issue, but an indicative one of the group mentality of not caring.
Words are mostly powerless without conviction, compassion, and, yes, love. If you can’t muster up the courage to talk to the homeless woman, then volunteer at the soup kitchen. Or heck, even if you don’t care about the homeless woman, realize that I’m using a symbol here, and start standing up for what you really care about.
Unless what you care about is just yourself. If that’s the case, put your headphones back on, turn that iPod up, and march, head down, through the rest of your life. But the rest of you, realize that it is not just belief but conviction and compassion that shape the world.
Oh and that homeless woman? We’re shutting down a women’s shelter really soon in Raleigh, so she’s about to get some friends. All that believing that the homeless are sad and should be helped hasn’t done a thing so far. So let’s do something about it.
