Today I learned a new skill. Using a layout design I created for a favorite quote, I transferred it from WORD to PDF to JPEG in order for it to be viewed in a blog post. Yes, it takes that long-line of a process to get it from there to here. With those faithful Dummy Books by my side, I googled more info on how to do this and voilá! What you see is the end result of what I learned today! Pretty cool, this inner geek of mine. And, oh yes, the quote itself is very worthy of contemplation.
Obviously, this post has nothing to do with my current Giving Voice series. While I have several articles neatly tucked away waiting their turn to be presented, there are those that are incomplete, unfinished or just not quite ripe for public viewing. Such is the case for the one next in line; surrounded by other completed articles, that one just isn’t up to snuff yet.
Plus, I realized that for all my concern about presenting potentially controversial topics in a balanced manner, I’d all but forgotten to address the fact that stereotypes are often steeped in some form of truth. There are reasons why the average guy on the streets is avoided, looked upon with caution or treated as if he were invisible.
Coming from an area that has a long history of floating transient populations, one learns to discern when safety is an issue and the ins and outs of appropriate interactions. So many factors play into this, including but not limited to age, gender, circumstances…heck, just like in non-homeless situations. Under no circumstances are violent crimes against individuals (or animals, I venture to add) acceptable.
I offer my thanks to Donna for the brave summation comment she wrote in response to my last post. I, too, have had similar encounters over the years as a young woman and also as a mother protecting her child(ren).
It’s not easy to see beyond the ugliness in human nature. Unfortunately it is present in all types of communities; more often than not it is the loudest voice clamoring to be heard above the crowd of human decency.
In the end, I have to believe that good wins out…if not now, but for another time and place.
Remember peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid…for I have come and am with you always.*
*my adaptation of John 14:27/Matt 28:20
Thank you for the mention. It really is hard to assess danger in our society today. It is so wrong to profile unfamiliar people (or peoples) on stereotype, race or appearances. Yet like you mentioned, stereotyping happened for a reason of some truth. I did not come from a place where transients frequented, yet they are a bit common here, so I never had any preconceived understanding. It only takes one bad apple to sour us too.
Well said, Donna.
Keep blessing us with your nature photos.
peace always
Congratulations, your “Inner Geek” is cool to be sure. Unlike mine that thinks the recording of text is still done with hammer and chisel.
HA! Thanks for the pat on the back, Bob.