Two weeks ago I was driving through San Francisco and I saw the remnants of a terrible transpiring. Not a murder, or a sickly car crash, but none the less I felt for the poor fellow. I was exiting the freeway, I saw scattered across both sides of the off ramp, were what was left of one mans worldly possessions. It appeared that this homeless mans shopping cart had somehow made it into the middle of the off ramp, and had been demolished by some exiting vehicle. He was standing under the bridge with his arms over his head, bewildered.

Could you imagine that, losing all your possessions in one freak accident? I know it happens when people's houses burn down, that is just as bad. At least the homeowner probably had fire insurance, so they get a settlement that they could restart their lives with. Somehow, I do not think you can carry insurance on your shopping cart (unless you are the store from which it originated).

I know not many people have sympathy for homeless individuals. You know that guy begging for change so he can buy beer or wine. Regardless, you have to feel at least some compassion for someone who just lost everything. Homeless people typically do not garner much sympathy for their situation, and are often looked down upon as a drain on society. But what I want to know, is if you started with absolutely nothing, other than the clothes on your back and the trivial amount of cash in your wallet, would you be able to become a contributor to society? How are you supposed to get a job, when you have no address and you smell like whatever cardboard you slept in last night?

Once you are in the predicament of being homeless, it is really hard to break free from the financial oppression. Without a job, where are you supposed to get the money for rent, and worse a deposit? Good luck.

I am glad to be fortunate enough to have a start. Seeing what it is like on the bottom only makes me appreciate what I have even more. Not to mention, gives me more compassion for those living in that situation. Now, here comes the hypocritical point. I am writing about this compassion, this want to help them out, and did I stop? Did I pull over and offer the guy a hand, or give him some money to help him out?

NO. I continued on my way, thinking these thoughts, but not helping. How uncompassionate is that? In my defense, I had my family with me, and it was not the best part of San Francisco. I did not want to risk them getting hurt, over helping someone else. But what it really boils down to is the fact that I did not help. Are accomplishments in life are defined by our actions, not our thoughts. So I guess I failed this time. Maybe I should learn from this failure, and next time I see someone in need, I will stop.

With so many people losing their houses during this financial meltdown, do you ever wonder how close you are to living out of a shopping cart? Hopefully somebody would show you some compassion. Unfortunately, probably not.