COLUMN: "Three Shirts, One Pair of Jeans"

From Jonathan Steinmetz's "Taking the Long Way Home," Fall '92 No, this isn't a restaurant review. I didn't take a date to Le Bec Fin. I had dinner at Burger King with John. John has lived in Philadelphia for the past 17 years. He has been homeless for the last five. Each day, he awakes at around 7:00 a.m. to the noise of garbage trucks, and he begins to worry about where he will sleep that night. He also has to worry about where to take a shower where to get food how to keep warm. And you thought that Accounting midterm was such a big concern. · "'It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep, Is there somewhere you can tell me?' He walks on, doesn't look back, He pretends he can't hear her. He starts to whistle as he crosses the street. Seems embarrassed to be there. Oh, think twice? It's just another day for you and me in paradise." Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise" · John is not lazy. "I can't read or write too good," he explained. "Nobody wants to hire someone without a high school degree." I asked him if he would want to work in the Burger King we were dining in. "I could mop the floors," he said. He has applied for jobs with the city sanitation department in the past. He currently washes cars near 40th and Chestnut to make a little money. Tuesday, he washed three cars. After splitting the money with his two buddies who wash with him, he had a take "home" pay of about $7. That's not going to pay the rent in too many places. John is one of about 40 homeless people living on the areas around campus. The day I ate dinner with him, he was wearing a tattered Eagles cap, a relatively clean shirt and some old jeans. Now 41 years old, he owns three shirts, two of which he found. In addition, he has one pair of jeans, which he also found, and a light jacket. "I don't know what I'm going to do when winter comes," he said, referring to not having a heavier jacket. John was born in Georgia. He went to school there and hated it because, "The teacher would always call on me to read. I couldn't read too good, and I would stutter, and the other kids laughed at me." John's self-confidence hasn't improved much in the ensuing 35 years. "I don't feel like a man. I might look big and tough, but deep down," he pointed to his heart, "I hurt. I don't have a job, I don't feel productive." John never made it past the ninth grade. He got married at 17. The marriage lasted about seven weeks. He was in the job corps, learning to use a bulldozer. He left because, "I accidentally bulldozed a building, and my supervisor got mad at me, and I cursed him out." He then moved to Miami. He came here 17 years ago and worked for a warehouse. The company went out of business five years ago. John lost his job, his apartment, his Chrysler New Yorker and his pride. John told me he tries to sleep each night in an area around the campus police station. There's a little heating vent that provides some warmth, if you can get close to it. He has to get there early at night, because often there are nine or ten other homeless people jockeying for space around the warm air. Every once in a while he goes to a friend's house to shower. Mostly, he just washes his face and hands in a water fountain. He carries a small pair of scissors with him to trim his moustache and beard. John doesn't think the government is doing much to help the homeless. He is angry at the government for allowing so many immigrants to come in and take the jobs of American workers. "They're not taking care of people who were born and raised here," he said. He told me that he's registered to vote. When I asked him who he was going to vote for in the presidential election, he asked me who was running. I asked John what he would do for the homeless if he were President. He said he would give them all shelter, but they would have to go to work and pay a certain percentage for rent. It would only be temporary housing. John's dream job is to be an auto mechanic. "I like to fix things, but now you've got to go to school to learn how to do all these things." I could rattle off statistics and tell you that there are, according to a study by the Urban Institute, about 600,000 people on the streets of America on any given night. I could tell you that less than half of the homeless are single men, while the majority are women, children, teens and married men, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. About 25 percent of the homeless population is mentally ill, and about 34 percent are substance abusers. One study showed that the major causes of homelessness are a lack of affordable housing, followed by unemployment, mental illness, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and domestic violence. But the numbers alone don't really tear at your heart. Talking to someone who owns one pair of pants does. Next time you see a homeless person, remember John. Providing food and shelter for a few weeks is a start, but we must address the problems that cause homelessness, not focus solely on "band aid" solutions. I don't have all the answers, but we must demand that the government start asking the questions. I think George Bush, Ross Perot, Bill Clinton and anybody else could learn a lot by having dinner with John. I know I did. Jonathan Steinmetz is a Wharton sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida. "Taking the Long Way Home" appears alternate Fridays.