Looking at the Homeless

I live in downtown Norfolk. Although this city is not comparable to New York or Philly, it still is a small city and it still has many homeless people. From my window, I can see a homeless couple that always sits on the same bench facing the water. While of course I am not glad to see homeless people in general, it always brings a smile to my face when I see this couple. It makes me smile because it is an anomaly. Most of the homeless people in my area are loners, who wander around aimlessly. Sometimes they congregate, especially when a charity organization is picking them up to house and feed them, as we have a program that does this every winter. I never, ever see a homeless person beg in Norfolk.

In Florence, there are also many homeless people. I know that some of these people are immigrants who came to Italy with each other, and that is why they stick together. However, I just tend to see more homeless people living together on the street, with their boxes and whatever else they might possess. At night, several homeless people will sleep under a bridge or on the sidewalk.

There is another type of homeless person in Italy as well. Actually, I do not know if they are homeless. I do know that they make their living by begging on the street. Some disabled people will sit on the sidewalk with their hand out, while others will pray, hunched over with a cup in their hand. Some adults beg while holding their young infant. In Pisa, I even saw a man on the street giving his dog a pedicure with a bowl of change next to him. Many people also play music on the street for money. The second night in Florence, we all ate at a restaurant. An older man came by playing the accordion. When he finished his song, he stuck out his hand. Another night, I was eating outside in Viareggio (a beach city) with Ilana, and girl about twelve years old played the accordion and stuck her hand out for change. She was with her mother, who helped guide her where to go. The next day, we were in Pisa and we saw the same girl in the same clothes, playing the accordion for people eating along the street. Ilana and I just could not believe it. I do not know how or why she traveled from Viareggio to Pisa, but I was simply amazed that this child, and presumably her family, traveled such a distance in a day, so that they could work in a city with more tourists as the weekend approached. I just called this work. Is this begging a form of work? Is it a lucrative form of income? Can she make more money doing this than if she were to work at McDonald's? Is this girl homeless? Is this how her family makes money so that they can eat? I do not know.

Over the past few weeks, I have randomly given money to these beggars and homeless people. I see no pattern or reasoning in whom I choose to give the money. All I know is that in Italy there are many different types of beggars, some who work for their money, some who sit and ask everyone who passes, and some who simply live together on the streets. I also know that Italy is not as rich a country as America, but I still hope that Italian charity organizations are trying to do something help those in need.