I’ve seen this photo on my Facebook Newsfeed a lot — and every single time, I lose it. You see, I love homeless people. I was born and raised in the Philippines so I’ve seen poverty first hand on almost every corner of the streets I passed growing up. After moving here, I’m still very proud to say that I’ve made friends with people living on the street, and I look forward to seeing them every day.

In my attempt to maintain my sanity and hope in the world, I’ve grown to rationalize the 3 main emotions I’ve felt just by looking at this photo.

1. Anger

This photo is a snippet of the thing I hate the most — people who don’t care. I mean, yes, those girls probably didn’t mean to offend anyone and look so pretentious and ignorant, but they did.

Just like them, every day, there are billions of people who go about their every day lives ignoring the human beings starving on the streets, crying out for help. More than being more mindful of our actions, I think it’s time that we take notice of the things that really matter. If those girls were in his shoes (or socks, in this case), how would they feel? How would you feel? Not too good, I’m guessing.

2. Guilt

Then, I feel guilty for being angry. It’s not completely the fault of the girls for being so ignorant — maybe their parents didn’t teach them to be more compassionate. Maybe they had a bad experience with a homeless person, or were brainwashed that all homeless people are ex-drug addicts who are lazy and dangerous. Maybe they never met anyone who really showed them how and why they should care.

And I’m not washing my hands off this issue. I admit that there are many times when I’ve rushed past a homeless guy because I’m trying to catch my bus. But when I’m not running late for class, I really try to make a sincere effort to talk to homeless people, or simply greet them “Good morning” or “Have a good day”. For me, the worst thing to do to another human being is ignore them. It’s bad enough that I don’t give them food or change, so I try to make up for it by at least saying “Hi.”

3. Inspiration

I still want to change the world. I’m studying business not just because I want to support my family, but because I want to learn how to make my own social enterprise and start my own foundation someday.

My mission is simple: I want to influence business leaders to realize their power to uplift the plight of the poor.

How am I going to do that? Well, that’s what I’m still working on every day. But voicing out my concerns about issues like this and sharing my passion in the hopes of inspiring others are some of the few steps I’m taking.

Trying to make friends with more homeless people is another step.

This is my buddy Charlie. He made some bad decisions (like we all do) and ended up living in the streets for 14 months. He got his backpack with all his ID stolen so it’s been a struggle to get work. But he finally got in his housing application and is starting to look for jobs. Gotta love his resiliency!

 

This is my friend Bill Thompson. He had 2 strokes so he lost partial mobility with his hands. He also got a heart attack and had his chest opened up — he’s got a scar to prove it! He has no family but he has Chopper, his dog. And Bill puts chopper’s needs first because he’s family to Bill.

I wish I could find that homeless man that the girls were posing beside and talk to him. I’d ask him about his story, eat a sandwich with him, and maybe even take a selfie together.

At the end of the day, I always ask myself this:

“If there is one ounce of hope left in this world, shall we not be that hope?”