Trevor

I met Trevor in January. I was downtown, waiting for a bus, and I was taking a few photographs to pass the time, when I noticed that someone was watching me with as much interest as I was watching everyone else. After he asked me for some change, I asked him if I could take his picture and he was delighted. We talked while I photographed him, and I got to know him a bit. I made a tabblo from the photos I took, and I got a lot of compliments about how nice it was of me to have stopped and talked to a homeless man, and how I had made his day by performing that small act of kindness, but the thing is, I believe Trevor gave me something more valuable than I gave him. I'm nearly certain that the effect of the encounter faded for him, considering his day to day existence, but for me, it made a life long impression.

I think about Trevor often, and through that thinking I believe I have a better understanding of why people drop out of the system and can't find their way back in. Most people would be frightened of Trevor, afraid that he'd try to bum some money from them, and that he'd become angry and violent when they refused. They'd see the state of his clothing, smell the stink of booze on his breath, and they'd turn away in disgust. "Dirty drunken bum," so many of them would think, "I'm sure if he wanted to he could at least bathe.”

But can you imagine what that must be like for someone like Trevor, who must feel so completely powerless over their own life, having watched it slip out of their grasp, bit by bit? Can you imagine not knowing where you'd sleep that night, or where your next meal would be coming from? Can you imagine what it must feel like to be sneered at and ignored everyday, what that would do to your self-esteem? Bathing? Why bother?

If I were a Trevor, I'd be frustrated and angry, and I'd want to shout out as loud as I could, "Hey someone pay attention to me! Don't I deserve your help; don’t I deserve to be seen? And if I were a Trevor, I’d want to drink too, to deaden the sharpness of my pathetic life, and to blur the images in my head of all those faces turning away in disgust and fear.

Just before my bus came I gave Trevor a few bucks to get something to eat, but I doubt he went to McDonald's with the money.

If you'd like to get to know Trevor a bit better, follow the link to my tabblo: Trevor

And if you have an interest in humanity, as I do, open your eyes and acknowledge the homeless. You just might be surprised by how much it will change your life.
(edited for clarity)