When I was homeless here in Portland, I would save enough money to get a room for the night.
I'd wash my clothes, take a shower, order some pizza and watch some cable TV.
One time it was 20 minutes before check-out time. I was flipping through the channels when I came across a show where a man was going to people, saying, "I know you can see me! Please acknowledge me." He went from person to person, asking them to talk to him or just acknowledge his existence.
I thought, "Wow… This is just like homelessness."
Then the invisible man in the show saw someone he knew. He went up to the man and asked, "Remember me? Our kids used to go to school together. We had a barbeque in my backyard."
His friend didn't acknowledge him. Nobody acknowledged him. It was like he was invisible.
Stressed out, the man started crying, wanting somebody to acknowledge his existence, just like being homeless. The thought kept going through my mind.
Finally, his friend broke character and acknowledged him. The crying man said, "You can see me! You're talking to me.”
His friend replied, "Yes, but you know I can't talk to you because if I get caught, I'll end up like you."
Knock … knock … knock …
“Housekeeping!”
What? I have 15 minutes left till checkout time! I thought to myself.
A few seconds later, knock … knock … knock...
This time, the knocks fell harder on the door.
“Housekeeping!”
“Hey, I still have time left!” I yelled back.
Knock … knock … knock...
“Housekeeping! If you don't leave, I'll tell the management, and they'll kick you out, and you won't be able to come back!”
Shit, I thought. So I got my stuff together, threw on my backpack and went to the door. I opened the door.
A person from the front office was standing there. He said, "Hey Leo, you need—"
“Yeah, I know. I'm leaving!" I snapped back.
The guy from the front desk started telling me they’re (housekeeping) on a tight schedule.
I rudely said, "Yeah...Yeah..." and walked by them. This happened years ago, but I always wondered about the invisible man from that show. Like, what happened, and why was the man treated this way?
About a month ago, I was talking to Seth, a security guard, about homelessness. I told him about this show.
He asked, “What happened? What did the guy do?"
“I don't know. I have the same questions. But I was rudely asked to leave the motel,” I told him.
Then Seth left. Ten minutes later, he came back to me and said, "I found it. It's called ‘See the Invisible Man.’ It's from ‘The Twilight Zone.’”
Then he read me the episode’s synopsis. When he finished, he asked, "Is that it?"
"It sounds like it, but the one I saw was in black and white. This one is in color. I'll check it out,” I replied.
The show is about a man sentenced to one year of invisibility because of how he cruelly treated people. Initially, he thinks this punishment is funny and believes he can handle it. The town put a mark on his head, so people know not to acknowledge him. So the man goes through life pretty much invisible, and at first, he's okay with it.
Then it finally gets to him, and he thinks, "Okay. If you don't care, I won't." Next, it shows him taking advantage of his situation. Watching this, I thought, "Man, this is a little extreme." Then I remembered some non-homeless people telling me how they were disgusted by the homeless wearing dirty clothes and how rude they are, just to name a few.
They usually go on for about twenty minutes complaining. When they finished, I would say: "Why should they care? Look at how you treat them. ‘You can't sleep here. You can't eat there. You can't get out of the rain here. You can't rest there.’ The sweeps and so on. Imagine living a life like that. How would you feel?”
If you treat human beings like animals, they'll become animals. And that's what you're breeding.
I've often been in meetings with decision-makers and asked, "Why is it always the homeless person's fault?"
The people look at me like they just tasted something bitter. I can also read their lips and hear them say, "What are you? Stupid? What are you? Dumb?"
Then they say, "It’s because of drugs, alcohol, bad decision-making and mental illness." They strongly suggest programs.
“The non-homeless public must also be educated,” I say. Again, I get the looks and comments.
When selling the Street Roots paper, there have been many times when a panhandler is next to me. They’re being nice and telling people, "Have a good day” or “Hi." But people act like they're not there.
The homeless tell me, "It would be nice for them to notice me or say hi." Homeless people always tell me that when they're homeless, they feel like they're not human beings because of how most non-homeless people treat them.
Seth, the security guard, also told me he was working at a church when an old homeless lady asked him for a cup of hot water. Seth went inside the church and came back with a cup of hot coffee. He gave the lady a hot cup of coffee. Then he asked her her name. Then Seth said, "She just started crying."
Leo Rhodes is a long-time organizer, vendor and Street Roots board member.
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