Ben Weisman: The Homeless Should Be Treated with Respect

By Ben Weisman

Staff Writer

The experiences that I had volunteering at soup kitchens have been fantastic, for the most part.

I have had the chance to talk, serve, and observe the people who were homeless and the people who were serving. However, I don't like using that word "homeless." It makes me feel as if they're inanimate objects, instead of actual people.

When I got the chance to talk to these people, it was very interesting. They said that they hate it when others treat them like second-hand citizens or charity cases. They don't want any money or food. All they want is for someone to listen to them. They hate it when people give them their sympathy. They just want to be treated with respect.

At the soup kitchen I volunteered at in Philadelphia last winter, two of the homeless people got into a fight and the security guard had to split them up. I felt really bad for them, and I wished I could help them.

Another interesting thing that happened was a bunch of homeless people at the soup kitchen were protesting about unfair treatment. This seems to only happen in the city soup kitchens, not the in the suburban ones in which I've volunteered.

Working at a soup kitchen has meant a lot to me, because it has showed me how bad our economy really is and how grateful we really should be for the material items that we have. Some of the things that we take for granted are cars, houses, food, clothes, heat, TV's, and our electronics.