Lonely and Homeless

“Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I have nobody for my own
Oh, I'm so lonely…..”

That song came to mind as I watched “Birdman,” a homeless person in the community lean on the cold rail near the beach and stare out over the Pacific Ocean at a recent sunset before the local police began giving tickets for watching it from your car!  How many sunsets has “Birdman” seen over his lifetime as he hangs around familiar territory?  What was it in his life that led to his predicament?  Mental illness?  Addiction?  Adjustment disorders?

He pointed out the rocks below and reminisced that he began sleeping on them at nights when he was sixteen years old.  He felt safe down there, he said.  But on this night, he was hoping for a motel room which the town was giving to some of the community homeless due to the spread of the COVID19.  He wasn’t sure he would qualify. He could no longer get down to the beach… it was closed.

Homelessness and loneliness go together.  His challenge is similar to ours:  he worries about food, clothing and shelter.  But his worry – and those like him – is daily.  Most of us are holding in place, hunkered down but with food, clean clothing and shelter.  That may change as the government inflicted shutdown continues and people lose their jobs and livelihoods. 

He doesn’t work so the lay-offs and shuttered businesses aren’t his concern.  Sort of.  But still, it is a dilemma because no one is on the streets to give him a handout.  Some of the local restaurants which feed the local homeless out the back door, are closed.  The social services are limited due to the pandemic and people of good will are confined to their homes.

The chronic homeless like “Birdman” are out there on the streets.  They may not be in our neighborhoods but look around, you’ll see them.  They aren’t going away; their numbers may grow as this pandemic lingers. 

“Birdman” is just one story out there.