Living Tough
While pondering what is to be done, the note of aloofness, of personal detachment in homeless men, their shyness and reserve, does not go unnoticed. Observe this tendency more closely, and it clearly exhibits a distinct emotional coldness towards Man, in general, a go-it-alone egotism. Homeless people of every description don't look helpless. They make one feel helpless.
"Home-less" is, after all, a definition of what is by what it isn't. It is an existence defined by, what might be charitably defined as an opposition to the routines and conventions of ordinary life. They are, each and every one, adversarial, rebels without a cause. They are not helpless. They are defiant. They own the streets.
It is an existence which may be compared to the ghetto (in the broad sense of an alternative society), but one with its own social contract, festering, like a ulcer, within the confines of the dominant society. If the homeless population is not a symbol of civic pride, neither is it a “jungle,” as well-meaning apologists for minority city clusters of any identification maintain.
There is a system to the street, even, I dare say, a justice system. Because it is opposed to the ruling order, the actual system, like an underground subway system without a map, cannot be explicitly followed. There is no written code of honor among thieves, even as has been noted many times, a code of honor. The unwritten code is a system of signs, both spoken, and symbolic, similar to a secret society, legitimate examples of which abound. To prove you are one of them, you must drink from the bottle of wine passed from man-to-man.
Shockingly, The Homeless find living rough attractive. One and all, they have a passion for sunlight, shadow, the open blue sky, green grass, earth, concrete, secret places from which they shun the crowd. The Vagabond only appears to digress, a dissident, a defector. Ultimately, all his byways lead back into the high road. He is a cause célèbre. His plight drives legislation at the State level, programs at the local, and endless media coverage. It makes a great story on a slow news day.
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