This week was very eye opening as we got an overview of a number of different books that students read that included Grand Central, Tell Them Who I Am, Down & Out and Sidewalk which my group was assigned to. Sidewalk brought us into the lives of street vendors in New York City. 

The part that was so interesting to me about everything that I read was how we treat these people as if they aren’t happy, as if we need to change their lives and as much as they may need a hand at times these people do have aspect to their lives that make them happy. The one main character Hakim talks about how he could put on a nice outfit, walk into some sort of corporate business and get a job but he chooses not to. He enjoys selling books on the street, he loves the human interactions and connections he makes. Although to some individuals this may seem like a dreadful job it is everything to this individual. The other part that the book spoke about was how some of these homeless individuals may want to sleep on the street. One man talks about how he could get a hotel room for eight dollars a night and he did while he was with his girlfriend but once she got put in jail he would sleep on the streets in the warmer months. He said with the money that he saved he was able to afford a better place to stay in the cold winter months.

I think a lot of time when we look at the homeless population we think that these individuals are not choosing to live on the streets but that is not true for all of them. I think that every individuals situation is different and that is how it should be looked at.