Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

I work in Downtown Los Angeles, and almost every day, I pass film crews for movies, tv, commercials and what not.  It's kind of not a big deal and I tend to ignore it all. 

I also pass homeless on the way in every day and them I cannot ignore.  I try to keep a little money in my car and when I get off the freeway in the morning, I give a little to the homeless guy standing there.  My friends sometimes tease me about it, but I just can't help thinking that could be me if I'm not careful.  And most of the homeless men I see are veterans.  It breaks my heart.  I also recently read a memoir, written by a friend of mine, describing how he grew up on the streets.  I never would have known if I hadn't read his book.  BTW--if you are interested, you can get it at Amazon.  The book is called "Street Child: A Memoir" by Justin Reed Early.  He opened my eyes even more to the plight of women and children on the street.

So, why am  I stuck on this today?  On my way in this morning, I noticed one of the parking lots completely blocked out for the film crew.  There were lots of trailers (more than usual) and they were setting up the food service area.  There were a couple of tents set up and tons of food being set out, tables and chairs for cast and crew.  And on the other side of the fence were the most pitiful looking homeless people.  I mean these are the ones that are at the bottom of the food chain even for homeless.  All I could think was that here was all this food and nothing for them.  I mean, come on.  All that food in front of people who are literally starving?  What kind of fresh hell is that?

Maybe I'm just getting softer in my old age, but it broke my heart to see the extremes of the uber rich and the utterly poor side by side.

Until next time, much peace and love.