Bummed

There are a lot of bums in Atlanta. I work right smack dab in the middle of downtown ATL which I would consider their state headquarters. Since working downtown (and riding MARTA to and from work) I usually get about three request a day from a bum asking for money. One bum in particular likes to pretend he has a missing leg to the tourist – as a regular pedestrian on his side walk I can say ‘pretend’ because the leg alters between his right and left.

When I first moved to the big city I didn’t have any preconceived prejudice against bums, I just didn’t know what to make of them. I would politely smile and say ‘no’ when they asked for change and gracefully step over them as they slept in front of my car door in my parking garage (when I use to drive to work). But as I started to really develop my career and put in 60-70 hours per week my sweet nature towards bums quickly changed. When I get a paycheck only to see a very large portion of that money going towards taxes it really pisses me off. I work incredibly hard for every penny I earn and I still worry about paying all of my bills and budgeting my expenses. So, I’m not too proud to admit this, but my sweet, southern ‘no’ to bums has (on more than one occasion) become ‘get a job.’

Well karma is a bitch.

Yesterday I was minding my own business walking down to the train to take home (because once again I’m trying to pitch pennies) when I paused for a cross walk. While I’m standing there, in my peripheral vision I see a bum coming up to me in his wheel chair. I continued to listen to my iPod and tried to remind myself it was better to ignore him than yell. So, when his first quiet attempts at saying ‘miss, miss’ to get my attention turned into abrupt yelling and waving his arm – I lost my cool. I turned harshly towards him ready to say “I have $1 in my wallet, $10 in my checking account and haven’t gone grocery shopping in two weeks and if you think just because I am walking from a job means that I have plenty of cash to just throw at you so you can just go buy some more liquor, you have another thing coming. Go get a job!!” Oh yeah, I was pissed.

But before I could even begin to yell he simply pointed to the sidewalk and said “excuse me.” There I was – standing on the wheel chair ramp at the cross walk, right in his way. I froze and turned three shades of red. I wanted to chase him and apologize properly – I wanted to cry. It was a bitch slap from God and it hurt. Though I don’t think I’ll be handing out dollars any time soon on my way to work, I’ve turned a new leaf in my prejudice. Homeless or gainfully employed, everyone deserves a little respect.