Whatever your opinion may be about the issue of homelessness in this country, there’s one definite fact: It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Knowing this, it’s probably in all of our best interests to, at the very least, understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of someone who faces this problem on a daily basis.
This YouTube video (which contains NSFW language) features a homeless man named Obadiah. Filmed by Austin, Texas resident Tyler Mann, it shows the hard truth of what it’s like to be homeless in the United States.
Obadiah is not a saint, and doesn’t claim to be. He’s just a man who made some mistakes and fell on hard times. He spent 12 years in prison on a drug possession charge, eventually being released in February 2011. Upon release, the former contractor had a hard time finding a job, or even an apartment. All of this was due to his status as a felon. You can hear his frustration over this when he says, “… they give a pedophile an apartment, but not a felon.”
His stories of society’s rejection are plentiful. One example is of a time he and his wife walked up to a woman, while pushing a cart full of their belongings, simply to ask her what time it was. The woman, possibly thinking the two were panhandling, yelled at them to get away from her because she didn’t have any money. You can see the pain and disbelief on his face as he tells the tale.
Obediah survives now by playing his guitar for change. He hopes to get back into contracting, if he can find a place that will hire him. This is the kind of video that can surely make you feel grateful, at least for a moment, for what you have. All the best to you, Obadiah.