Working in Washington, DC has exposed me to a lot of homeless people. I see the same ones everyday sitting in the same spots doing the same thing...nothing. There is one in particular that prompted this post. I just don't get it.

America has a sever homeless problem. With the recent mortgage crisis and a soaring unemployment rate I can understand why some people are homeless. People lose their homes and their jobs and they are left with no other choice. Then there are other who made very poor choices in life and end up on the streets. Usually their tales involve one of drugs or prostitution. I can understand this to but you know what? You did it to yourself.

This one guy in particular I just don't get sits out in front of the fountain in front of Union Station. He is there everyday sitting in the same spot. He claims to be an Army veteran and he probably is. I assume he is a Vietnam vet. Looking at him you wouldn't think much of him. His hair is long and he is a bit scruffy but other than that he appears perfectly normal. So I wonder what keeps him from getting a job, any job. Is he crazy and just doesn't outwardly project it like many of the homeless people in Washington? Does he have some kind of disability that isn't noticeable?

I find it hard to believe he doesn't have some kind of skill he can apply towards some kind of employment. You have to be pretty damn worthless to not be able to flip a burger or make french fries. McDonalds and Burger King employ mentally handicapped people all the time, so why can't he work? Granted the pay is less than stellar and it would take a lot of effort to get off the streets working for minimum wage but at least it is something. At least you are contributing to society instead of sitting around hoping someone throws you their pocket change.

I just don't get it. It makes no sense to me. Is their life on the street that good? I don't imagine it would be. There are a ton of jobs out there but you have to be willing to do them. Of course this is another problem in America. Americans are too lazy to do manual labor. This is why those jobs are held by illegal immigrants. They are willing to do whatever it takes to try and get a piece of the pie all of us Americans take for granted. If the able bodied homeless people got up off their asses and did the same thing immigrants do they probably won't be homeless anymore and we can stop bitching about immigrants taking our jobs.

If someone has some insight into this please let me know. I really want to understand why.