 Welcome to Seymour's World commentary on Think Tech Hawaii. You can find all my commentaries and Seymour's World episodes on the Think Tech Hawaii website. I welcome your comments by email, text, or phone. Our topic today is looking beyond. My mother once told me, believe nothing of what you hear and half of what you see. She didn't mean this literally, but was warning me to be careful of gossip and judging what I see. These things are not as they appear to be. It's easy to misinterpret what we see without knowing all the facts. For instance, what if I were to invite you to come to work with me today? We'd park in the lot behind the building where I work and walk around to the front door. As we walk along the side street, oops, be careful, don't trip over that man sleeping on the sidewalk. He must be a lazy bum. Oh, look at that woman. She's here every day squatting against the building, drinking coffee, smoking and bothering everyone, walking by asking for change. Why doesn't she do something useful? See that man over there pushing the cart? He has all his possessions in the cart. He's walking kind of funny, staggering a little. I'd say he must be drunk again. But don't judge a book by its cover, an old expression we need to remember. It is easy to look at someone and figure you know all about them. It's easy to judge someone whose lifestyle is different from ours and sees the world differently, but we need to look beyond that. Homelessness has happened to people who seem to have everything in life. Circumstances beyond one's control can cause one situation to change drastically. No one is immune to happenstance. We need to find the right words to use to show kindness, respect and patience and for the wisdom to help them. I pray for the same kind of love and compassion that God has shown to me. I work with our city's foster youth and our You Are in Charge program. These people cannot advocate for themselves as they don't have the ability or the ability to articulate their needs. There are people who have had such horrendous lives and have made some bad choices, but if we were to walk in their shoes under the same circumstances, we have made or could have made the same decisions. And we might be where they are right now. We don't always know what has transpired in a person's life for them to be in this position. Homelessness is an issue that affects all of us. There are many causes of homelessness, including insufficient affordable housing, low income, mental health or substance abuse issues, family conflict, violence and job loss, breakdown and inadequate discharge planning, ex-offenders, mentally ill persons and persons leaving the care of the child welfare system. Most of the street people are more to be pitied than scorned. I know there are a few who have chosen to live on the street. Some because they don't want the responsibilities of life. Some because they really don't know any other way of living. For them it's an attitude of better the devil you know than the devil you don't know. But when it's freezing cold outside, I can't believe anyone wants to be on the street. Let's pretend to be homeless for a minute. You have no place to go. You have no place to sleep. You have very few possessions which you keep with you at all times because you're afraid someone might steal them. You have no ID. How can you prove who you are? You're dirty and you smell. Where do you go to the bathroom? You're afraid, especially if you are a woman. Nighttime is very, very scary. You don't know whom to trust and you don't know what's around the next corner. You keep moving and moving. You're hungry. You're tired because you're afraid to sleep at night. Your feet hurt because you've been walking all day or all night trying to stay warm and safe. It isn't a very pleasant scenario, is it? Let's get back to the beginning. Remember the man we saw sleeping on the sidewalk this morning? It turns out that he had lost his job and his family when he was in an accident. The injuries were bad enough that he could no longer do his job. It hit him so hard that he hasn't been able to regain enough confidence to move forward. One day, however, he will. Recall the woman asking for change, who I mentioned? She had been abused so badly that her mind is protecting her from much of that pain by closing off part of her memory. She goes to agencies that provide her with lunch or supper, but I don't know where she sleeps. Remember the man walking funny who was pushing the cart? He pushes the cart to help him keep his balance so he won't fall. His legs and hips have been damaged so often that he walks with a very unusual gait and is often thought to be drunk when he isn't. While we realize that some people take advantage of these kinds of situations by playing the role of a homeless or disadvantaged person, overall, we must not judge those in need by putting them into a preformed box. Let's look beyond the surface and show compassion and mercy to those whose lives are different from ours. Let us thank God for what we have and pray for those who have so little. My name is Seymour Kazimurski. You are watching a commentary of Seymour's World. You can find all my commentaries in Seymour's World episodes on the ThinkTech Hawaii website. I welcome your comments by email, text, or phone. Aloha. Thank you.