The past week of book presentations had an impressive effect on not only how homeless people are perceived, but how people are perceived in general. Theses presentations have shown the different perspectives that are associated with certain groups of homeless people from Caucasian mothers to African-American males. Yet within these different categories of homelessness, all stories are connected no matter the race, age, or gender. There are similar stories of destructive childhoods, rape, substance abuse, and the economy to blame for their current predicaments. Don’t all these problems seem universal? That people other than the homeless can and have endured all these situations?

There seems to be this reoccurring thought that questions why homeless people are seen as less than the rest of society, less than a human being. They have done nothing to warrant this type of stigma against them. The other day I witnessed a professionally dressed man belittle and scold a mother living in her car with her young daughter, and I couldn’t help but think about how that reaction will affect this young child’s life. The stories that were from each book all focused on one’s upbringing and how events can lead to homelessness. In this case, I saw how society is visibly rejecting the homeless just by one professionally dressed man treating another human inhumanely. Will the child see herself as less of a person and think that she deserves negative treatment that comes her way because she lacks a house? Will she resent her mother for putting her in this situation? Or perhaps the she will understand and that there will be a more positive outcome for her? These books have taught me that the events in childhood can truly affect a person’s perception of society and themselves. Nowadays I ask myself what everyone around me has endured, what has made them the person they are today. Because all of us go through similar situations and, therefore, that is what ultimately will connect all of us together in the end. Our life experiences are what make us who we are – human.