Tonight marked the first homeless feeding for BK in 2017. Circumstances led to getting to the park about 45 minutes earlier than we normally do, and someone who regularly came to dinner in the past happened by.
This person, who I will refer to as M, told me that they stopped coming because of certain individuals who were also coming for dinner. Apparently these certain individuals would encourage M to try various types of drugs, which M has no interest in doing. M did not stay for dinner. That made me feel sad - especially since we were serving one of M's favorites that night.
After dinner, I mentioned M's comment to the folks who stayed to talk. The consensus was sympathy for that position; and a number of people made the observation how there were new faces showing up among the homeless, and a common characteristic was an overall lack of respect, for want of a better way to put it. One person told of how he invited some newcomers to share a spot he'd found, only to have these newcomers basically desecrate the place by relieving themselves there, among other things.
I'm not sure what to make of this.
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