With open eyes

This is the second Sunday in a row that someone has driven up by my place and dug through the recycling bins to take plastic bottles and cans. I'm assuming for a little extra cash. They then get in the car and drive a couple more feet to the next bin. It makes me sad...

I am also noticing a lot more "new" homeless people. They all pretty much have their designated corners - many at stoplights...the busiest traffic areas. But lately I have seen a lot of new faces. Some young people too, though they look more transient than locals.

Today I saw a lady that I had seen on a corner a lot when I first moved here. She's back at her old spot and now has a cane. The last time I saw her, she was stumbling along the crosswalk with a paper-bagged bottle in hand.

I am curious of how much one homeless person can collect in a day at one of those busy intersection corners. I think I am just going to ask. Thousands of cars go by everyday. If 1000 cars gave at least 25 cents to them, they could make 250...in one day.

I don't give them money. I've only given a dollar once to a guy after I got out of a Starbucks drive-thru. Most of them have MAJOR mental health problems...as you can tell when you are at the stop light and they are walking up and down the median with thei cardboard sign....talking to themselves.

Still...it makes me sad....
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry