Revealing a Secret (Day 39 - August 30, 2011)

I've been keeping a secret from you, and I've just decided that I should come clean.  However, before I tell you what it is, I need you to know that there is a point to this sharing . . . I'm not looking for pity or sympathy or anything like that.   Okay?  Okay.

Here it is . . . I've been receiving communications, usually anonymous, that I consider to be "hate mail".  Thankfully, there have only been a handful so far, but I know there will be more.  For some reason, there is a portion of the population that is either so angry, so disturbed, or so otherwise aligned that it makes sense to them to attack another person.

I should make it perfectly clear that I do not have any difficulty with people expressing different opinions, and fully expect that many people will disagree with me.  In this regard, I have had some wonderful exchanges with people . . . wonderful in the sense that they were respectful and civil even if we did not see eye to eye.

I know . . . you're dying to find out . . . "What sort of hate mail . . . What did they say?"  I'd be curious, too.  While I don't want to dignify them by repeating exactly what they said, I can tell you a little about them.  Some of the ones with nicer language called me a "complete idiot", "misguided", an "absolute joke" and my personal favourite . . . "a twit" (. . . we don't use this one very much anymore).  The harsher ones included suggesting that I am delusional, under the influence of Evil, and doing this project totally for the money.  Silly me, I hadn't realized there was a lot of money in poverty.  Oh . . . and I must not forget (although I would like to) . . . I was the victim of a Twitter attack that was one of the most vulgar, profanity-filled things I have ever read.  Interestingly, the five "attacks" were spread through different medium . . . two e-mail, one Twitter, one print media, and one blog comment.

I believe we can learn from every experience if we are open to it.  For one thing, I've learned some new swear words, to be sure.  And, I've also learned that poverty is God's wrath on people, which is why more people who are not of the Judeo-Christian fold are in poverty. (NOT!! NOT!! NOT!!  But that is what I was told by one person.)  But seriously, I have learned that you have to develop a tough skin to put yourself "out there" as there are people who will take shots at you.

It's this learning that leads me to having shared this with you.  I had thought to keep my mouth shut because I mistakenly thought it had nothing to do with me experiencing an element of poverty.   However, it then occured to me that it has EVERYTHING to do with the poverty experience.  For absolutely no fault of theirs, homeless people experience prejudice, discrimination, and abuse simply for being.  Homeless people, particularly those on the street who are interacting more with mainstream society, get insulted and treated as something less than human all the time.

As I said, I don't want you to feel sorry for me or anything because a handful of people with problems decided to send some daggers my direction.  I'm a big boy and, while it does hurt when it happens, I can shake it off.  Besides it happens far more to others.  But there is something I would like you to do.  Regard those who are in poverty, whether that be homeless or otherwise, as your equal.  In other words, SEE the person inside and not their situation.  Perhaps that means giving a warm smile . . . not crossing the street to avoid them . . . helping an organization dealing with the poor . . . or actively standing up and saying that abuse of any kind will not be tolerated anywhere anytime to anyone.

Hey!! I'm That Poverty Guy . . . let's make a world of difference together.

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