“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

Has it come to this?

Last week, I was sitting in a fast-food restaurant on the Strip minding my own business when I was suddenly disturbed by raucous noise erupting from the front of the eatery. I tried to ignore it but quickly gave up as a torrent of four-letter words including the F-word cut through the normal restaurant decorum and heads began to turn.

This is no good, I thought. What had been a restful afternoon break from another dreary November day had erupted into a cacophony of sound several octaves louder than the 18-wheelers rolling by on the Strip.

And what was the source of this rude intrusion?

It was a highly agitated woman sitting alone and having a melt-down screaming she was homeless and she didn’t like the food she’d been served and wanted to be served another order and served quickly because being homeless was no reason for bad service. Or so she said. I had no way of knowing if this was true. But even if it was it didn’t justify a bizarre outburst like this. The blustering babble was so loud and tumultuous it was impossible to enjoy a meal because the woman had become a sad spectacle casting a pall over the entire room.

What was also upsetting was that most of the patrons ignored the distressed lady. It was like a scene out of a-B movie.

On one hand, there was a distraught female in the throes of a melt-down spouting expletives while the patrons pretended she wasn’t even there. Instead of trying to comfort her, they just sipped coffee and stuffed themselves with donuts. Everyone was cool. Just another afternoon in the “Key City.” No reason to be excited. Or to help.

So, I decided to speak to the manager who shrugged the whole thing off when I mentioned calling the police or getting medical help.

After this discouraging response, I walked over to the woman and tried to engage her in conversation. That was a big mistake as she turned her foul invective on me. Shaking my head, I left the restaurant and never found out how the upsetting incident ended.

To be honest, I wasn’t too happy with my own behavior. Why didn’t I offer to buy her a meal myself? But there was food on the table in front of her and for whatever strange reason she didn’t want it. Was she having an overdose? An anxiety attack or in the throes of a mental health breakdown? Whatever it was, it was far more than just having a “bad day.” She was perilously close to violence. In my opinion, she needed love or professional intervention, but I doubt if she got either.

Reflecting on the incident later, I noted it occurred quite close to one of the main homeless camping areas in the city and close to a major facility where the homeless are fed and sheltered. But this woman needed more than food and shelter. She needed support beyond the bare basics and was obviously not getting it.

And this distressing incident didn’t occur in the dark of the night after the bars closed. It occurred on a sunny afternoon in a family-friendly facility on the main street in town.

Meanwhile, a provincial government survey last April revealed close to 120 homeless in Cranbrook, almost double the total from only two years ago. As well as “sleeping rough,” many of the homeless are dealing with chronic medical conditions such as opioid abuse, alcoholism, and various other addictions as well as mental health issues and physical disabilities. Sleeping in the bush or a flimsy tent  only aggravates their problems. Being ignored by your fellow humans must do the same.

So, what can we do for the homeless? Here’s what one of the world’s most famous artists had to say; “To make a home for the homeless is a thing that must be good; whatever the world may say, it cannot be wrong.” – Vincent Van Gogh.

Think about it.

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who thinks homelessness is a sure sign of a society deep in crisis.

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