Mar
9
Last month, the Beacon published a letter to the Editor from a Barry Tateham, that referred to a homeless person who was sheltering in the washrooms in the Thrifty's mall as a “dirty derelict.” This letter purported merely to “observe” the instance recorded, but the language used in the letter makes it clear that Mr. Tateham both strongly disapproves of the homeless and subscribes to the view that homelessness and the accompanying issues of addiction and mental disorders are a natural outgrowth of one's moral fibre. This view, aside from being demonstrably inaccurate, is neither helpful nor kind, and if Mr. Tateham and those like him could spend just a day in a homeless person's shoes (or lack thereof) I'm sure they would show a great deal more compassion.
Extensive work by Bruce Alexander, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, has shown that depression and addiction can reverse to physiological norms once natural, healthy, positive socialization was established (or re-established) for the addicted. Calling someone a “dirty derelict” and clearly expecting him to be somewhere else doing something other than finding a few hours' respite somewhere warm with clean water is exactly the opposite of that. In other words, contributing to the problem being “observed.” One could also ask, who needed that washroom more? Someone who can go home to heat, light, running water, clothes in the closet, food in the fridge, and toilet facilities one doesn't have to fight for or sneak into? Or someone with struggles most of us can't even begin to imagine, who has nowhere warm to rest during the day, little to eat, worldly possessions that consist of others' garbage and that fit into a shopping cart, and is actively reviled on top of it all?
Do you honestly think if that MAN (not “derelict”) had a better option, he would be relaxing on a cold tile floor next to a smelly urinal with rude people coming in shouting at him periodically? If a public washroom is the best he could do, are you really going to begrudge him that? And should the mall really lock out the people who need the washrooms most in our community? Homeless people are still our neighbours. If they're homeless, it's because of circumstance, public policy, misfortune and failure of their social networks, not moral failings. Nobody would camp out in a washroom if he didn't need to. Leave the washrooms open, respect EVERYONE who uses them, and maybe grow a sense of compassion. It might just help.
Sarah Pugh